MANILA, Philippines - The defense does not consider as damaging the decision of the impeachment court to subpoena Chief Justice Renato Corona’s bank documents.

In a phone interview, defense spokesperson Karen Jimeno said the issue whether to admit this as evidence has yet to be decided by the court.

Nonetheless, the defense is ready to argue against its admission in court since it goes against a ruling by the senator-judges, she said.

In an earlier decision, the senator-judges disallowed prosecutors from submitting evidence on paragraph 2.4 of the Second Article of Impeachment, which deals with Corona's ill-gotten wealth.

During the 12th day of trial, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile noted the defense can still tap all legal remedies available to it.

Asked to elaborate, Jimeno said they can pursue a criminal case especially in connection with the violation of laws on the secrecy of bank deposits.

She said they have yet to talk to the chief magistrate if this will be pursued.

The summonses include a bank account that the prosecution supposedly learned from an anonymous source. The prosecution claimed the account had an initial deposit of “$700K”, which it interpreted to be $700,000 (around P38 million in October 2008).

In its supplemental motion, the prosecution said: “While it cannot vouch for the authenticity of the said documents, the prosecution believes that it is its duty to submit the documents to this Honorable Impeachment Court, as they may have a bearing on the Court’s resolution of the pending request for subpoena.”

During the hearing, senator-judge Francis Escudero said that while the court allowed the summonses, the parties should respect the confidential nature of the bank deposits.

Enrile also noted of the strictness of the Foreign Currency Deposit Act with regard to the confidentiality of bank documents.

“It is a strict law, it is far stricter than the [law on secrecy of bank deposits]. It imposes strict penalty for a violation. No one is immune, whether you’re a member of the court, the legislative or the executive,” he said.