Senator Raffy Tulfo flagged a potential conflict of interest on Wednesday regarding Atty. Michael Poa’s role on Vice President Sara Duterte’s legal defense team during her impeachment proceedings.
Tulfo pointed to testimony from former Commission on Audit (COA) auditor Roderick Wamil, who stated that Poa—alongside OVP chief of staff Atty. Zuleika Lopez—previously met with auditors to request that confidential fund liquidation issues be handled via a simple audit query rather than a formal Audit Observation Memorandum.
Citing Poa’s past dealings with state auditors on behalf of the Office of the Vice President (OVP), Tulfo questioned his standing as a defense counsel before presiding officer Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero.
“Hindi ba conflict of interest yun para siya ay mag-represent dito ngayon? Sa pinag-uusapang confidential funds when in fact siya mismo pumunta doon sa COA office para makipag-usap sa kanila,” Tulfo asked.
Escudero dismissed the concern, clarifying that Poa’s prior roles under the OVP and the Department of Education do not bar him from joining the defense team, as he is acting as legal counsel rather than a party on trial.
“The respondent in this case… is the honorable Vice President Sara Zimmerman Duterte. Atty. Poa, although he served under the Office of the Vice President and DepEd, is not a named respondent in this case and in fact is one of the lawyers of the respondent,” Escudero said.
“I believe there is no conflict with respect to that given that he is not the one on trial in this case,” he added.