Lawyer Michael Poa confirmed he is no longer Vice President Sara Duterte’s spokesperson.
The former spokesperson told the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability that he is “no longer connected” to the Office of the Vice President (OVP) on Tuesday, during the fourth hearing concerning Duterte’s alleged misuse of confidential funds.
Poa said his consultancy contract had been “pre-terminated,” and that prior to the last hearing, he had already spoken to the OVP about leaving.
As to whether he resigned or was sacked, Poa said the decision to leave was a “mutual” one, explaining that he did not believe he could satisfy the stipulations of his contract as spokesperson while being a resource person in the Committee’s investigation.
“Nagkaroon kami ng pag-uusap prior to the previous hearing. It was a mutual decision. Nag-decide po kami mutually kasi nag-express po ako na hindi ko kayang i-fulfill yung obligations ng contract as a spokesperson,” he said before the House panel.
(We had a discussion prior to the previous hearing. It was a mutual decision. We decided mutually because I expressed my inability to fulfill the obligations of the contract as a spokesperson.)
“To be honest with you, since I'm also a resource person here, I found it very difficult to go on media and be interviewed on the same matter kasi nawawala yung objectivity (because the objectivity is lost),” he also said.
When asked about the seven officials who were issued subpoenas, Poa said they were still members of the OVP, as indicated in their position paper. However, he is not certain as to their whereabouts.
Poa was also previously the Department of Education (DepEd) spokesperson, when it had been under Duterte. His contract with the OVP was to end in December of this year.
