MANILA, Philippines - The decision of Chief Justice Renato Corona to ask the Supreme Court to stop his impeachment trial at the Senate is raising a lot of ethical and legal concerns that law students should answer, a lawyer said Wednesday.

Ted Te, assistant professor at the University of the Philippine College of Law, asked "Is it ethical for a sitting Chief Justice to ask for relief from the very Court he leads and from which he has not taken leave?"

"Is it ethical for a sitting Chief Justice to not disclose in his petition that the documents and testimonies subject of his TRO application are NOT YET ADMISSIBLE as they have yet to be formally offered and considered?" Te said in his Facebook account.

He also asked if it is ethical for a sitting chief justice, "who should be primus inter pares (first among equals), to ask for inhibition of 2 of his fellow justices."

"Is it ethical for a sitting Chief Justice to treat the public office he holds as his personal 'property' such that he should invoke the due process clause (which covers ONLY life, liberty and property)?" Te asked.

Without directly mentioning the petition, Te also raised the possibility of prejudice caused by any influence that the impeached Chief Justice may exert on cases that are pending before the Supreme Court.

TRO on bank accounts

In his urgent petition for certiorari before the same judicial body where he holds office, Corona also said he wants the immediate issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the Senate's decision to subpoena his bank accounts with BPI and PS Bank.

He said the subpoenas violate the bank secrecy law.

His lawyers have also filed a motion seeking the inhibition of Associate Justice Antonio Carpio and associate Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno from his petitions.

Corona cited the alleged public animosity of the 2 against him which may affect their decision on his petitions.

White flag, almost

Te said the Corona petition "is almost [a] white flag." 

He said the allegation in the petition about the "grave abuse of discretion" by another branch of government, as well as the insufficiency of the impeachment complaint, are deliberate on the part of Corona's lawyers.

He said they could be trying to avoid an outright dismissal of the petition on the ground that it is a political question.

He also believes that the defense panel may want the petition to be consolidated with the other pending petitions to stop the trial and also to confer standing to the other petitioners.

"They say 'character' is what you are when no one is looking. This petition reveals a whole lot about the character of the petitioner and also his understanding of the Constitution and the law," Te said.

"This petition sadly shows the stuff the respondent is NOT made of; that it had to be filed at all is unfortunate in itself, for it to be considered and not outrightly dismissed by the Supreme Court would be tragedy; for the Supreme Court to grant the TRO would be farce," he added.