A day after the deadline for applications to the post of chief justice was extended, the number of individuals who have either applied or were recommended to replace ousted Chief Justice Renato Corona has climbed to 45.

 

Four of them however, including defeated Presidential candidate Gilberto Teodoro Jr, have already declined their endorsements.

 

The three others who have also declined are Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) President Roan Libarios, lawyer Rodolfo Robles, and Laguna Prosecutor Marianito Sasondoncillo.

 

Robles originally accepted lawyer Ricardo Marasigan’s endorsement, only to withdraw it on Tuesday.

 

The latest additions to the list are former Senator Rene Saguisag, endorsed by Emmanuel Tomagos; Court of Appeals Justice Japar Dimaampo, endorsed by Berteni Cataluna, and lawyer Amelia Tria-Infante endorsed by Judge Maria Ruby Camarista.

 

All the possible candidates, save for two, were all recommended by other people or groups. The only two who threw their own hats into the ring are nurse-teacher Jocelyn Esquivel and former Judge Floro Florentino, who was suspended from the judiciary in 2006 due to mental illness. — DVM, GMA News