The camp of Vice President Sara Duterte is essentially recognizing the legitimacy of the House Committee on Justice's impeachment proceedings with the promised appearance of one of its lawyers.

Thus, said House Assistant Majority Leader Lanao del Sur 1st district Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong, in reference to the expected appearance of lawyer Michael Poa during the committee's scheduled April 14 hearing.

"On a personal level, I think Poa, upon his statement that he mentioned and assured the committee that he will be attending the next committee hearing, I think ... meron siyang in a way na pagkilala sa legitimacy nitong ginagawang committee hearing na ito patungkol sa impeachment complaint naman kay Vice President Duterte,” Adiong said in a statement Tuesday, March 31.

(I think … in a way, he has shown some recognition of the legitimacy of this committee hearing regarding the impeachment complaint against Vice President Duterte.)

The Duterte camp had earlier assailed the justice panel's conduct of impeachment hearings, and argued that only the Senate can hold a trial against the Vice President.

The panel, chaired by Batangas 2nd district Rep. Gerville "Jinky Bitrics" Luistro, launched last March 25 the "hearings proper" stage of its impeachment proceedings against Duterte.

It has repeatedly clarified that it is not an impeachment trial, and that the purpose of this stage was only to determine probable cause in the two active impeachment complaints.

The justice panel is looking to bring in during the April 14 hearing a key figure in the questions surrounding the use of confidential funds at the Department of Education (DepEd). Duterte served as education secretary from 2022 to 2024.

Adiong said Poa’s expected appearance matters because of the position he held when Duterte was the DepEd chief.

“Well, si Atty. Poa nagsabi din naman siya na willing siya na mag-attend (Atty. Poa said himself that he was willing to attend), I mean to respect the subpoena and so he would be, I think I heard, I just saw one of the statements he was quoted that he may be attending, he has no intention to evade,” Adiong said.

Before being tapped as part of Duterte’s legal team, Poa served as her former spokesman and chief-of-staff.

That willingness to attend, Adiong added, may help the committee dig deeper into a part of the record that could prove important in the impeachment proceedings, particularly the handling and reporting of confidential funds during Duterte’s time at DepEd.

“According to one of the testimonies that was included in the complaint was that the person who was invited in the previous hearings that we had during the 19th Congress even admitted that Atty. Poa was the one who actually prepared the report on the utilization of the confidential funds," said the Mindanao solon.

"So that’s why he was invited, he was subpoenaed. He’d be expected to appear in the next committee hearing,” he added.

Among the impeachment allegations against Duterte is her alleged misuse of P612.5 million worth of confidential funds.

Meanwhile, Adiong defended the House’s decision to continue the impeachment proceedings against Duterte amid the country’s urgent concerns like the newly-declared state of energy emergency.

“There are pressing concerns facing the country that can be addressed more effectively by properly compartmentalizing how they are handled,” Adiong said.

He pointed out that the national government already took steps to respond to the fallout from the global crisis linked to the conflict involving the United States (US), Israel and Iran. He said actions can proceed alongside the impeachment process.

“The President already declared a state of [energy emergency]. In fact, mayroon na na-create na UPLIFT na (we already created the UPLIFT) committee that will discuss on how we can respond with the effects of the global crisis," he said, in reference to the Unified Package for Livelihoods, Industry, Food, and Transport initiative under Executive Order (EO) No. 110.

Adiong says there is no reason for the House to abandon or suspend a constitutional mandate simply because the country is also confronting a separate emergency.

“And so, there are proper way to address that without necessarily surrendering or bypassing the constitutional mandate that is given to the House. Remember, the complaints are filed by private citizens, endorsed by some members of the House. So while there is really that ongoing crisis, mayroon naman ginawa ang ating pamahalaan (our government is repsonding to it),” he stressed.