Former Department of Education (DepEd) undersecretary Atty. Michael Poa testified Wednesday that he was unaware the agency had a security officer who handled confidential funds when he prepared the department’s response to a Commission on Audit finding.
Poa made the admission during the 21st day of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial before the Senate sitting as an impeachment court.
House prosecution counsel Benjamin Tolosa Jr. asked Poa about a November 2024 House good government committee hearing, where then-DepEd special disbursing officer (SDO) Edward Fajarda testified that he had transferred the confidential funds to Col. Dennis Nolasco.
Poa said it was the first time he learned that DepEd had a security officer and that the confidential funds had been transferred to Nolasco.
“That was the first time that I heard that there was a security officer,” Poa said.
He also confirmed that he did not know about Nolasco’s role when he was preparing DepEd’s response to COA’s audit observation memorandums (AOMs), which flagged issues involving the agency’s confidential spending.
“That’s correct,” Poa said when Tolosa asked whether he had been unaware of Nolasco’s role at the time.
Tolosa then pointed out that Poa therefore could not have spoken with the person who actually held and allegedly distributed the funds to informants.
Poa confirmed that he only spoke with Fajarda while preparing the response to the AOMs.
Tolosa also asked whether Poa sought clarification from Duterte after learning that Nolasco had allegedly handled the funds, to which Poa said he did not.
He explained that his relationship with Duterte had changed after he resigned as spokesperson of the Office of the Vice President, making their communication different from before.
Tolosa pressed Poa on whether he took any steps to verify Fajarda’s statement that the confidential funds had been transferred to Nolasco.
“No, sir, because it did not relate to the AOM anymore,” Poa replied.
The exchange was part of the prosecution’s effort to establish that Poa prepared DepEd’s response to COA’s findings without having direct knowledge of a key person involved in the handling of the confidential funds.
The defense earlier objected when Tolosa described Poa as a “competent lawyer,” arguing that the questioning concerned Poa’s role at DepEd when he prepared the AOM response.
Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero, who is presiding over the impeachment trial, sustained the objection on the ground that the question had already been answered.
