Saturday, March 29, 2008 Lawmaker wants president's power to appoint justices removed
AN OPPOSITION congressman said the power of the president under the 1987 Constitution to appoint members of the judiciary should be stripped off to insulate it from what he described as "presidential and political interferences."
Parañaque Representative Roilo Golez, spokesman for the House minority bloc, broached the idea in the wake of the Supreme Court's (SC) 9-6 decision upholding the invocation of executive privilege by former planning secretary now Commission on Higher Education (Ched) chairman Romulo Neri on his conversations with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Golez said he is filing a resolution seeking specific amendments to Section 9, Article 8 (The Judicial Department) which states: "The members of the Supreme Court (SC) and judges of the lower courts shall be appointed by the president from a list of at least three nominees prepared by the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) for every vacancy. Such appointments need no confirmation."
"For the lower courts, the president shall issue the appointments within 90 days from the submission of the list," the lawmaker said.
He said the power to appoint will be removed from the president and transferred to the SC acting en banc.
"This will make the SC and the rest of the judiciary self-perpetuating and truly independent, the selection and appointment process devoid of any presidential and political interference. The process, being en banc, will be collegial and balanced, not dictated by a single person," he said.
Golez also wants to disqualify those who have held presidential appointments, Cabinet or sub-Cabinet or any elective positions from mayor and above, from being appointed members of the high court and lower court judges.
"This will prevent any speculation that there is bias or prejudgment on the part of the members of the judiciary, such as is happening now with respect to the members of the SC who served the president in any senior capacity or who held partisan political positions," he said.
Furthermore, Golez wants to amend Section 8, Article 8 which states: "A Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) is hereby created under the supervision of the Supreme Court composed of the chief justice as ex-officio chairman, the secretary of justice, and a representative of Congress as ex-officio members, a representative of the integrated bar, a professor of law, a retired member of the Supreme Court, and a representative of the private sector."
"The regular members of the council shall be appointed by the president for a term of four years with the consent of the Commission on Appointments (CA). Of the members first appointed, the representative of the integrated bar shall serve for four years, the professor of law for three years, the retired justice for two years, and the representative of the private sector for one year," he said.
Golez said Section 8 should be amended by deleting "the secretary of justice, and a representative of Congress as ex-officio members" and transferring the power to appoint JBC regular members from the president to the SC acting en banc which he said would "insulate the selection of JBC members from presidential and political interference."
"These reforms will make the judiciary truly independent and impervious to speculation that their decisions are subject to political interference and pressure," he said.
He added that the tribunal must also issue "a Code of Conduct prescribing a modicum of social aloofness on the part of the members of the judiciary to prevent too much fraternizing with members of society, each of who is a potential respondent, appellant or officer appearing in courts."
Voting 9-6, the SC ruled that Neri has correctly invoked executive privilege in refusing to answer three questions asked by the Senate in connection with its inquiry into the anomalous US$329 million national broadband network (NBN) project awarded to the China's ZTE Corp.
The tribunal, thus, granted the petition of Neri that the Senate be stopped from compelling him to testify on what he said were confidential matters, saying doing so would be detrimental to the country's diplomatic relations with China.
Penned by Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, the SC ruling gave weight on the argument of Neri's lawyer Antonio Bautista that his conversations with President Arroyo "dealt with delicate and sensitive national security and diplomatic matters relating to the impact of the bribery scandal involving high government officials and the possible loss of confidence of foreign investors and lenders in the country."
Concurring with de Castro that the three questions are covered by executive privilege were Associate Justices Leonardo Quisumbing, Renato Corona, Dante Tinga, Minita Chico-Nazario, Presbiterio Velasco, Antonio Eduardo Nachura, Ruben Reyes, and Arturo Brion. (WV/Sunnex)
