Senate President and president officer Juan Ponce Enrile ordered the Senate sergeant-at-arms to close all the doors of the Senate building after Chief Justice Renato Corona walked out of the witness stand after signing a conditional waiver authorizing the opening of all his peso and dollar accounts.
After testifying for two hours, Corona excused himself without the approval from the presiding officer and left the witness stand allegedly after feeling ill due to his diabetes.
Enrile was visibly unhappy by Corona's action as he ordered that all the doors of the Senate be closed to prevent the chief magistrate from leaving the building.
"Nobody can get out of the Senate. I ordered all the doors be closed. I don't want any defiance of this impeachment court. If you are going to disrespect this court, the court will make a decision of this case right now," the visibly irritated Enrile said.
Enrile also warned the audience from the gallery for continuously booing specially when defense lead counsel Serafin Cuevas said Corona is taking his medicine and attending his personal necessity.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have been patient. I warned you. If you are going to continue to be disorderly, I will ask the sergeant-at-arms to escort all of you out of this session hall. I hope you understand the decorum required by this court. You may booed in some other place but not in this court. So ordered!"
Cuevas asked for recess to check the whereabouts of Corona who, later as claimed by his lawyers, went to the clinic to have his blood sugar checked.
"The chief justice has not eaten his lunch and he felt fainting 20 minutes before the trial because of his diabetes," according to his lawyer Jose Roy III.
Roy, later, said Corona might not come back to the witness stand, adding "the chief justice is feeling tired and dizzy."
An all senator-judges caucus has been called to decide on the drama that highlighted the much-anticipated appearance of the chief magistrate.
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