MANILA, Philippines - Justice Secretary Leila de Lima was surprised at the Supreme Court's (SC) move to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the Senate impeachment court subpoena on supposed foreign currency accounts of Chief Justice Renato Corona.

De Lima echoed the position taken by Malacañan that the Senate Impeachment Court has sole jurisdiction over matters involving the trial and that the high tribunal may not intervene.

"Nakakagulat iyun and it's disheartening. Ang aking opinyon diyan is that the Senate impeachment court is supposed to be sui generis, a class of its own, and to a large extent, it is higher than any court in the judiciary," she said.

"Ang basis nyan, ang source ng power niyan, ay the sovereign people both in the House of Representatives, which has the sole power to initiate, and the Senate, which has the sole power to try," de Lima added.

"So baka hindi magandang precedent din iyan. Kasi incidental lang iyan. It's just an incident in the trial, it's not the judgment of conviction. And yung conviction, hindi rin dapat pakikialaman lang ng Supreme Court," she said.

The justice chief said the impeachment court is "higher than any court in the judiciary."

"So kung ganyang may interlocutory orders haharangan pa ng TRO ng Supreme Court, hindi magandang senyales iyan. So it's disheartening, but I'm sure that the prosecution or even the Senate -- kasi ang Senate ang tini-RO as an impeachment court -- the Senate will avail yung nararapat na remedy. Kung anong tamang remedy ay iyan ang pinag-aaralan na ngayon ng Senate, which I think will be represented by the Sol-Gen," she said.

De Lima and Malacañan's position is in spite of the "absolute confidentiality" on foreign accounts invoked by the Chief Justice's defense team and Philippine Savings Bank (PS Bank) under Section 8 of Republic Act (RA) 6426.

She believes that a constitutional crisis may indeed occur if the Senate and Supreme Court will insist on their respective positions.

"Huwag lang sana sigurong pilitin. Kasi kung magmamatigas ang Senate at magmamatigas rin ang Supreme Court, asserting its authority, its so called certiorari jurisdiction, and the Senate will be invoking its own sovereign power -- it's a sovereign power as an impeachment court--then baka nga dumating sa puntong iyun," she said. "But at this point, because there are available remedies, 'di pa siguro mangyayari yan lalo na kung ang SC pipilitin."