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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider VP Sara trial continues Tuesday with 2 AFP officers as witnesses

VP Sara trial continues Tuesday with 2 AFP officers as witnesses

Published Aug 31, 2026 01:54 pm

At A Glance

  • Colonels Boransing and Panopio are set to testify Sept. 1 on military certifications tied to DepEd's use of P112.5 million in confidential funds, including Youth Leadership Summits.
  • Prosecutors may also call Michael Poa, Duterte's former DepEd chief of staff and now defense lawyer, as a hostile witness if the AFP officers fail to appear.
  • The testimonies aim to clarify how DepEd used military certifications to answer COA audit findings on confidential fund expenditures during Duterte's tenure as education secretary.
Vice President Sara Duterte (PPAB)
Vice President Sara Duterte (PPAB)


Two Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) officers are expected to take the witness stand Tuesday, Sept. 1 during day 20 of Vice President Sara Duterte's Senate impeachment trial, as the prosecutors try to expose details of the alleged misuse of P112.5 million in Department of Education (DepEd) confidential funds.
Colonels Manaros Boransing II and Magtangol Panopio are scheduled to testify before the Senate impeachment court on military certifications that DepEd used in responding to Commission on Audit (COA) findings on its confidential fund expenditures.
The certifications are significant to the prosecution because they were linked to activities cited by DepEd in accounting for its confidential funds, including Youth Leadership Summits (YLS).
Respondent Duterte was the concurrent DepEd secretary from 2022 to 2024.
During a House panel investigation in 2024, military officers whose certifications were obtained by DepEd testified that their units did not receive DepEd confidential funds for the activities covered by the documents.
House impeachment team adviser and spokesperson Robert Ace Barbers said the prosecution intends to establish the circumstances surrounding the certifications and how they came to be used in answering audit questions on public funds.
The issue involves P15 million in DepEd confidential funds that was linked in House proceedings to YLS conducted by military units.
Boransing was originally scheduled to testify last Wednesday, Aug. 26, but sought the postponement of his appearance because he needed to coordinate with his military superiors before leaving his post.
The court's presiding officer, Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero granted the request, citing the “exigencies of his position” as commanding officer of the AFP's Task Force Zamboanga, and reset his appearance to Sept. 1.
Panopio is also scheduled to testify Tuesday.
The two officers are among the witnesses called by the prosecution after former DepEd special disbursing officer (SDO) Edward Fajarda, who had been lined up as a hostile witness, became temporarily unavailable because of his reported medical condition.
Fajarda remains on the prosecution’s witness list, with Sept. 7 earlier reserved for his possible testimony, subject to his condition and an assessment by the Senate Medical and Dental Bureau.
The prosecution had also sought the testimony of retired Maj. Gen. Adonis Bajao but later dispensed with him as a witness after difficulties in serving a subpoena because his address could not be established.
The Vice President has never attended the proceedings. 
Michael Poa
Tuesday’s hearing could also put one of Duterte’s own lawyers on the witness stand.
Michael Poa, Duterte’s former DepEd chief of staff and spokesperson who is now a member of her impeachment defense team, is formally scheduled to testify for the prosecution on Wednesday. Escudero, however, said Poa could be called as early as Tuesday if either Boransing or Panopio fails to appear.
“Given that Atty. Poa is here and more than willing to testify, as intimated earlier, then we jump to Atty. Poa, should the other earlier two witnesses fail to appear on Sept. 1, without need of issuing a subpoena to Atty. Poa,” Escudero said during last week’s hearing.
The prosecution has said it will ask the impeachment court to declare Poa a hostile witness because he is now part of Duterte’s defense team.
Poa served as Duterte’s chief of staff and spokesperson when she was education secretary and was involved in DepEd’s response to COA findings concerning its confidential funds.
He also had a role in obtaining and submitting the military certifications and was previously identified in House proceedings as having material information on the preparation of accomplishment reports involving DepEd confidential fund expenditures.
If the impeachment court grants the prosecution’s request, Poa would become the third witness declared hostile in the confidential fund misuse charge against Duterte.

Related Tags

AFP Sara Duterte impeachment Witnesses confidential funds DepEd
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