‘Not an issue with VP’: Poa says nothing wrong with having Leni Robredo supporters in Duterte’s defense team

MANILA — Vice President Sara Duterte sees no issue with several impeachment defense lawyers having different political affiliations, panel spokesperson Michael Poa said on Thursday.

Poa gave the comment a day after a viral post showing that one of Duterte’s impeachment lawyers was a staunch supporter of former Vice President Leni Robredo’s 2022 presidential bid, and even shared posts of now-prosecutor Chel Diokno.

“I don’t see anything wrong with political affiliations. I don’t see how it affects the case. In fact, it just shows that we are professionals doing our jobs as best as we can without political leanings,” Poa said in a press conference.

“What we are here to do is to present the facts that the allegations against the Vice President are baseless. To us, that strengthens the point that we are not here only because we’re politically affiliated or because we have political leanings,” he said.

“We are here as professionals, we are here to present the facts as much as we can for the appreciation of the impeachment court,” he added.

Having different political ideologies within the defense stable does not in any way affect the dynamics within the Vice President’s team, Poa said, underscoring that this is “not even an issue” for their client.

“I don’t know who voted for who, it has never been an issue. It’s not even an issue with the Vice President so I don’t see why it should be an issue between us,” he said.

“Sa atin, I have full confidence with the team I’m with. We have been in the trenches for the past 2 years together and I have no reason to doubt anyone’s capability or even their willingness to help us in this case,” he said.

Poa earlier said that Duterte assembled her team of lawyers for the impeachment trial as early as 2024, when talk of a possible ouster case against her was raised in the House of Representatives.