Senate impeachment court presiding officer Sen. Chiz Escudero reprimanded House private prosecutor Benjamin “Jay” Tolosa Jr. for calling defense lawyer-turned-witness Michael Poa an “abogadong walang alam,” describing the remark as discourteous and ordering it removed from the official record.
Tolosa made the remark while referring to Poa’s repeated testimony that he had no firsthand knowledge of how the Department of Education’s confidential funds were actually used or implemented.
“The chair orders to strike ‘abogadong walang alam’ off the records. The chair finds it discourteous, to say the least,” Escudero said during the 21st day of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial on Sept. 2.
Escudero stressed that such language should not be directed at another member of the legal profession, especially during formal proceedings before the impeachment court.
The ruling followed an objection from lead defense counsel Sheila Sison, who challenged Tolosa’s remark as the prosecution presented its 13-point offer of evidence after Poa’s testimony.
Sison maintained that the phrase was not part of the prosecution’s presentation of evidence but an inappropriate personal characterization of a fellow lawyer.
“Whether here or outside the court, whether we are trying an impeachment case or just talking to one another as fellow members of the bar, I believe and have to ask the court to strike this off the record,” Sison said.
She likewise took issue with parts of the prosecution’s 13-point presentation, describing them as rhetoric meant to inject drama into the proceedings and disputing some of its characterizations of Poa.
Poa testified in relation to Article I of the impeachment complaint, which concerns the alleged misuse and liquidation of ₱112.5 million in DepEd confidential funds during Duterte’s time as education secretary.
During the questioning, Poa said his role was largely confined to helping lead DepEd’s responses to Audit Observation Memorandums issued by the Commission on Audit and reiterated that he had no firsthand knowledge of how the confidential funds were actually spent.
