AN apparent attempt to oust Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile as presiding officer in the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona floated yesterday as senator-judges decide today whether to follow a Supreme Court order preventing public scrutiny of the chief magistrate's supposed questionable $700,000 deposit with Philippine Savings Bank.

Asked to comment on the reported coup plot, Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III said: “Yes, I heard (the coup) rumors.” But he declined to elaborate since he has yet to confirm the matter with fellow senators.

“I don’t know. I have no details. (These are) just rumors,” said Sotto.

Enrile is set to conduct an "all senators" caucus today -- hours before the resumption of the impeachment trial -- to arrive at a decision on the temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by the Supreme Court last Thursday barring the Senate, sitting as impeachment court, from prying into Corona’s dollar deposit at PSBank.

In deference to the High Tribunal’s TRO, Enrile advised senator-judges to refrain from tackling Corona’s dollar deposits until they have resolved the issue in executive session. Senator-judges have expressed contrasting views for and against the Supreme Court order.

Sen.Joker Arroyo said that the Senate must respect the TRO. “To begin with, it is temporary, the permanent ruling will come later after all sides are heard,” he said.

Sen.Miriam Defensor-Santiago also urged her colleagues to follow the TRO to avoid any "confrontation" between the legislative and judiciary branches of government.           

Arroyo believes that the SC is “not free to abdicate its constitutional duty to act and decide what has been brought before it arising from the impeachment trial.” He added: “Nor can the Senate assert this, if per chance it does wrong during the trial, such wrong cannot be corrected.”

If the impeachment court disobeys the Supreme Court TRO, that would make the Senate, when acting as impeachment body, infallible. “The Constitution does not countenance this. What cannot be challenged is the Senate’s final decision of conviction or acquittal," Arroyo added.

Meanwhile, Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV has assured private individuals, who are not impeachable officials, that their dollar deposits would not be exposed, as this is guaranteed in Republic Act 6426, the Foreign Currency Deposit Act.