Atty. Michael Poa, VP Sara Duterte’s Lawyer, Speaks on Nature of Vice President amid Public Perception
SARA DUTERTE’S LAWYER – Attorney Michael Poa claimed that the Vice President has “never been violent” towards her.
Vice Pres. Sara Duterte is currently out of the country for her visits to several nations abroad. The Malacañang Palace previously confirmed that they granted Duterte the authority to travel from July 16 to 31.
According to the Office of the Vice President, the overseas trip of Duterte includes both personal engagements and work affairs. She is set to visit Qatar, United Kingdom, and The Netherlands among others.
The Vice President has been returning back and forth to The Netherlands since the custody of her father, former Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte, was transferred to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague in 2025. The former President is being investigated for his administration’s controversial war on drugs campaign.
Early this year, four (4) impeachment complaints were filed against the Vice President. Here are some of the grounds raised against Duterte:
- Alleged culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust, and other high crimes in amassing and converting the amount over PHP 500 million confidential funds (CF) allocated to the Office of the Vice President from 2022 to 2023
- Alleged culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust, and other high crimes in amassing and converting the amount of not less than PHP 112.5 million of confidential funds allocated to the Department of Education (DepEd) for the year 2023
- Alleged culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust by corrupting and bribing officials of the DepEd
- Alleged culpable violation of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust, and other high crimes in contracting to murder or assassinate the president, the first lady, and the former speaker of the House
- Alleged culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust in amassing unexplained wealth and failing to disclose all her properties and interests in properties in her SALN
- Alleged culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust in committing acts of political destabilization and the high crimes of sedition and insurrection
The overseas trip of Vice Pres. Sara Duterte came amid her ongoing impeachment trial. One of the issues being tackled in the Senate impeachment court is her alleged threats against Pres. Bongbong Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
The Vice President has yet to attend a day in the impeachment trial. She is represented by her legal counsels and Atty. Michael Poa, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte’s lawyer, is the one who usually speaks to the press about the impeachment proceedings.
Recently, amid the issue on the alleged “threats” of Duterte against Marcos Jr., Atty. Michael Poa claimed that she has never been violent. Based on a report on ABS-CBN News, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte’s lawyer claimed that it is not in the nature of the VP.
“Nasabi nga noong minsan, nabato ako ng laptop, that’s not true, totally not true. Hindi ako nabato ng laptop or anything,” Poa said.
Vice Pres. Sara Duterte’s lawyer has also previously worked with her in the Department of Education when she was the DepEd secretary. Atty. Poa who is working for the Vice President since 2022 said that Duterte is “very decisive” and “knows what she wants”.
“I’ve never seen her done that. She’s never been violent. She’s never even raised her voice at me. And to be honest, I’ve never seen any outburst or outrage,” Vice Pres. Sara Duterte’s lawyer said.
Based on the report, Atty. Michael Poa stressed that the context must be considered as to the remarks of Vice Pres. Sara Duterte which is called an “outburst”. According to him, how the Vice President is being viewed is not actually who she is.
“We need to show context on why that happened. It’s not her character kasi. That’s something we need to successfully show in the public. In a way, we have to show na what she is being portrayed as is actually not what she is,” the lawyer said.
Recently, amid the ongoing proceedings, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte reportedly wants the Senate to cover the food of her defense team.