REP. Roilo Golez (Ind., Parañaque) yesterday conceded it would take a year before his proposal to strip the President of the power to appoint members of the Judiciary would prosper due to the slow legislative process.

"It’s more for future and not the incumbent president," he said.

Considering the slow legislative process, Golez said the bicameral process of introducing an amendment to the Constitution would take at least a year. By that time, he said, if the move prospers, it would be almost 2010 or the end of the term of the incumbent president.

Golez, spokesman for the minority bloc, last Friday said he will file a resolution seeking to remove from the President the power to appoint members of the judiciary to insulate them, he said, from "presidential and political interference."

He proposed that the power to appoint be transferred to the Supreme Court en banc "to make the SC and the rest of the Judiciary self-perpetuating and truly independent.

"I believe the nation must take this bold, drastic move to make the Judiciary truly independent and insulated from politics," he said.

Golez broached the idea in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 9-6 decision on Tuesday to uphold the decision of former Planning Secretary Romulo Neri to invoke executive privilege when asked by senators of his conversations with President Arroyo on the $329-million NBN-ZTE deal.

The majority decision was penned by Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo-de Castro. Associate Justices Leonardo Quisumbing, Renato Corona, Dante Tinga, Minita Chico-Nazario, Presbitero Velasco, Antonio Eduardo Nachura, Ruben Reyes and Arturo Brion concurred with the majority decision. All but Quisumbing were appointed by President Arroyo.

Chief Justice Reynato Puno, Associate Justices Consuelo Ynares-Santiago, Ma. Alicia Austria-Martinez, Conchita Carpio-Morales, Adolfo Azcuna, and Antonio Carpio dissented.

Martinez, Morales, Azcuna and Carpio were all Arroyo appointees.

Golez said the Philippines should follow the example of the United Kingdom which recently passed Constitutional Reform Act of 2005 which he said "drastically" restructured its Supreme Court "because the old system ‘confused people and offended constitutional principles of separation of powers and independence of the judiciary.’"

"We should consider the same reforms in the Philippines instead of the knee-jerk rejection by Malacañang with the saddening statement that ‘the power of the President to appoint members of the judiciary has been exercised since the 1936 Constitution was enacted,’" he said.

Golez said the reforms to the UK high court included setting up of a "politics-free" Judicial Appointments Commission to select judges, including Supreme Court members, through fair and open competition, from the widest range of eligible candidates.

The UK Commission is made up of two lawyers, five judges, a layman magistrate and six laymen, including the chairman.

Golez said the Commission follows a tough screening process that includes wide advertisement in the media, and a "series of character checks done with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and relevant professional bodies."

He said the candidates for vacant court positions are measured by "five core qualities namely intellectual capacity; personal qualities (integrity, independence, judgment, decisiveness, objectivity, ability, willingness to learn); ability to understand and deal fairly; authority and communication skills; and efficiency."