MANILA, Philippines - Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile castigated the defense team of Chief Justice Renato Corona after the chief magistrate walked out of the courtoom.

"Wag naman po kami babastusin. Hindi ko papayagan na babastusin ang husgado na ito ng maski sinuman," he said.

Enrile said that as chief justice, Corona should know proper decorum in a courtroom.

He took exception to Corona's statement that he wanted to be excused from the trial because he is he chief justice. "The fact is - he said 'I am the chief justice and I want to be excused.'"

He said if Corona does not want to be cross-examined, he will move to strike out Corona's statement from the record.

"We did not volunteer to be judges here. We are here by virtue of the mandate of the Filipino people. I will tell you, Mr. Counsel, I have high respect for the Chief Justice. I have high respect for the institution that he represents but I equally demand respect for the instituion that I represent and I am not going to allow any slight, any abuse of authority against this court for as long as I am the presiding officer," he said.

"If you are not going to allow your client or he will not allow himself to be cross examined, we will decide on this case on the basis of the evidence on record," he added.

Lead defense counsel Serafin Cuevas apologized to the court for any slight but asked that Corona be allowed to be excused because he has hypoglycemia.

Enrile said Corona has until tomorrow to return to the trial so he could take the witness stand again. He said he will not allow any more extension for Corona to testify in the trial.

"If he will not return, we will consider this submitted for resolution," he said.

ANC Chief Justice on Trial, May 22, 2012