VICE President Sara Duterte arrived at the Senate on Tuesday, 7 July, along with one of her lawyers Atty. Michael Poa prior to the second day of the impeachment trial against her.
Aram Lascano
Three Army certifications that the Department of Education (DepEd) later submitted to the Commission on Audit were dated up to two months before DepEd received the audit memo that prompted it to seek documents supporting its confidential fund spending, former Education Undersecretary Michael Poa testified Wednesday.
The certificates were dated 5 December and 30 December 2023, and 1 January 2024, while Poa said he received the COA audit observation memorandum, or AOM, on 2 February 2024.
“So, they existed already at the time that you received the AOM?” prosecutor Benjamin Tolosa asked.
“It appears so, sir,” Poa replied.
Poa, however, said he could not say when the documents reached DepEd or whether they had been obtained by Undersecretary Nolasco Mempin before the AOM was received.
Tolosa asked Poa whether the certificates, which the Army officers had testified were issued to document their participation in Youth Leadership Summits, were later used to support DepEd’s confidential fund spending.
“Hindi ba noong December pa lang nagawa na ito, ang purpose nila to prove attendance and then when you needed proof to justify your use of the confidential funds as demanded by the Commission on Audit, you repurposed these certificates,” Tolosa asked.
Poa did not directly accept the premise. He said it was possible the documents had been requested earlier by whoever was administering the rewards program but had not yet reached DepEd’s central office.
“Maaaring nahingi na noon, hindi lang nabibigay sa Central Office,” Poa said.
He said he could not determine when the certificates were obtained or why they had been prepared.
Impeachment presiding officer Francis Escudero then asked Poa whether he had seen any of the certifications when he received the AOM.
“Walang napakita sa akin. Walang napakita ang SDO, walang napakita sa akin,” Poa said.
Asked whether he therefore did not know about the certifications when the AOM arrived, Poa answered yes. “In fact, that’s why I never asked for certifications. I asked for accomplishments,” he said.
Poa said he had asked Mempin for accomplishment reports, not specifically for Army certifications.
When Mempin eventually provided the Army certifications, Poa said he relied on them. “So noong nakita ko ’yung AFP certifications na binigay sa akin ni Usec. Mempin, I relied on the certifications,” he said.
Col. Manaros Boransing and Col. Magtangol Panopio testified on Tuesday that their certifications documented their units’ activities and did not certify DepEd’s use of confidential funds.
In its April 2024 response, DepEd said the Army’s youth summit activities were “directly resulting from the information provided by informers.”
Sen. Joel Villanueva questioned Poa on Wednesday about the basis for that statement.
Poa said he relied on language in some of the Army certifications referring to a “synergistic exchange of intelligence and information” used to identify locations for the summits.
He said he also approached other DepEd undersecretaries to ask whether they had similar documentation, but the Army certifications were the only documents he received.
Villanueva asked whether the separate accomplishment reports Poa had originally requested ever materialized.
Poa said no. He said Mempin told him that certifications were how accomplishment reports were documented for such activities.
Villanueva then asked whether Mempin had personally confirmed that the Army’s activities resulted from information supplied by DepEd’s paid informants.
“Wala pong na-confirm sa akin na ganoon,” Poa said.
Villanueva asked whether, without such confirmation, DepEd’s statement to COA was simply the department’s own conclusion.
Poa did not agree to that characterization. He said he did not know what Mempin had discussed with the military and would not speculate.
