Jonathan Frederic De Santos

Article (news)

Duterte defense counsel Michael Poa

RG Cruz

ABS-CBN News

MANILA — Vice President Sara Duterte may appear at her impeachment trial, but only if necessary and if her defense team advises her to, one of her lawyers said.Atty. Michael Poa also said that Duterte being subject to the impeachment process is part of her facing accountability even if she is not physically present.&quot;Kasi parati natin sinasabi na hindi humaharap si vice president. But what we&#x27;re doing now is pagharap sa mga alegasyon, hindi ba?&quot; he said, adding Duterte does not need to be at the pre-trial conference.(We keep saying that the vice president is skirting the process. But what we&#x27;re doing now is facing the allegations, right?)He said he did not want to &quot;give a soundbite&quot; that the vice president is willing to appear at the tiral.&quot;Ang sa atin, kung dumating yung circumstance na kinakailangan niyang humarap, we will be the ones to advise the client na kailangan niyang humarap. At doon natin malalaman kung haharap siya or hindi physically.&quot;(For us, if the circumstance comes that she needs to appear, we will be the ones to advise our client that she needs to appear. And that&#x27;s when we&#x27;ll see if she will physically attend or not.)<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/6/25/prosecution-to-present-mary-grace-piattos-as-witness-in-vp-sara-impeachment-trial-1212">Prosecution to present &#x27;Mary Grace Piattos&#x27; as witness in VP Sara impeachment trial</a></div><div> </div><div>&#x27;MARY GRACE PIATTOS&#x27; AS WITNESS</div>Poa said the defense panel will cross-examine all witnesses the prosecution will present, including &quot;Mary Grace Piattos&quot; and former Over All Deputy Ombudsman Melchor Carandang.&quot;Definitely, when they are called as witnesses for the prosecution, the defense will have the right to cross-examine their witnesses,&quot; he said. Bicol Saro Party-List Rep. Terry Ridon, one of the House prosecutors, remained coy on how they will present &quot;Mary Grace Piattos&quot;, who does not exist on government records.&quot;Well, that is something that we will have to see in the next couple of weeks,&quot; he said.Poa, who has been an official at the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education, said he would have no problem taking the witness stand if called.He said he may be asked to testify on &quot;matters that are not pertaining to my role as counsel to vice president.&quot; He also declined to comment on the prosecution&#x27;s bid to unseal a box that the Bureau of Internal Revenue submitted to the House when asked for Duterte&#x27;s tax records. <div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/6/24/prosecutors-ask-impeachment-court-to-unseal-box-of-duterte-s-tax-records-1713">Prosecutors ask impeachment court to unseal box of Duterte&#x27;s tax records </a></div>Poa said the defense will file its position on that on Friday.Ridon said he is certain the prosecution panel will insist that the box be opened so the documents inside can be marked for the trial, but added, &quot;if not, and then we will leave it to the court to decide.&quot;Both lawyers said they are optimistic that the marking of evidence for the trial will be done by the end of Thursday.Senate Secretary Renato Bantug, clerk of court for the impeachment trial, said they will work as quickly as possible to issue a pre-trial order once the pre-trial conference is done.He said the order will be &quot;the roadmap on how the trial can best be conducted&quot; and will include stipulations and other agreements that parties reached in the pre-trial conference.&quot;Hopefully we can work out the trial dates. But as of this point, what the parties committed on the records is that the prosecution will take around 62 trial days and the defense, 30 trial days, &quot; he said. — from a report by RG Cruz, ABS-CBN News

Atty. Michael Poa also said that Duterte being subject to the impeachment process is part of her facing accountability even if she is not physically present.

Atty. Michael Poa also said that Duterte being subject to the impeachment process is part of her facing accountability even if she is not physically present.

Sara Duterte may attend impeachment trial if necessary, advised to by counsel — Poa

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Sara Duterte may attend impeachment trial if necessary, advised to by counsel — Poa

RG Cruz,

ABS-CBN News

Published June 25, 2026 06:02 PM PHT

Read More:

Impeachment

Sara Duterte

Michael Poa

Senate

Terry Ridon

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