Four of the biggest news organizations in the country joined forces Thursday to pledge support for a newly-formed watchdog focusing on the judiciary and the selection of the next set of appointees to the Supreme Court.

ABS-CBN, GMA Network, The Philippine Star, and the Philippine Daily Inquirer have all pledged support for Bantay Korte Suprema (BKS), a newly formed watchdog focusing on the judiciary branch of government.

By next year, seven retiring Supreme Court justices will be replaced by President Arroyo, bringing the number of Malacañang appointees in the high court to 14 out of 15.

The watchdog group believes this will be a crucial decision.

"A Supreme Court justice will stay on until good behavior or until 70 yrs old. Whoever appoints the next seven will leave a lasting legacy in terms of jurisprudence for the next two to three administrations," Atty. Marivic Leonen, University of the Philipines-Diliman College of Law dean, said.

Senator Francis Pangilinan also warned about the pivotal role of the Supreme Court in settling a possible dispute between different modes of Charter change.

"‘Pag dinala sa Supreme Court ‘to, in the next year or so, and we have appointments in the Supreme Court who don't deserve to be there because of patronage. Wala na, tapos na boxing," Pangilinan said.

BKS clarified that they will not be endorsing any candidate for Supreme Court justice and are only after a free, fair and transparent selection process by the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) and Malacañang.

"It's giving the people the information that they need to see that the process is transparent and they can then have the power to hold these people accountable. That's our role. It's perfect, it's the core," Maria Ressa, ABS-CBN Senior Vice-President for News and Current Affairs, said.

So far, the JBC has announced that will have an open voting on their shortlist for Supreme Court justices, but the BKS wants to push the transparency of the process further.

"We can survive a corrupt executive... dahil pwede natin dalhin sa Korte. We can survive a subservient legislature, but we cannot survive a corrupt judiciary, that's why we have to be vigilant," Pangilinan said.

The public can also participate in the campaign through text. By txting BKS to 2948, anyone can get information on the selection process. Atom Araullo, ABS-CBN News