(Updated 1:32 p.m.) Nine individuals have either applied or accepted nominations to fill in the Supreme Court spot vacated by Associate Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, who was recently appointed chief justice replacing the ousted Renato Corona.

Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) regular member for the academe Jose Mejia told GMA News Online that three of the aspirants previously joined Sereno in the race to become the next chief justice, namely former Ateneo Law dean Cesar Villanueva,  and founding dean of the De La Salle University College of Law Jose Manuel Diokno, and Teresita Herbosa, a commissioner with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Herbosa and Reyes applied for the post along with Associate Austice Ramon Bato Jr. of the Court of Appeals.

Villanueva, meanwhile, was among those who accepted endorsements, which also included CA associate justices Noel Tijam, Isaias Dicdican, and Magdangal de Leon; CA presiding judge Andres Reyes Jr as well as Adoracion Cruz-Avisado. Tijam had vied for a post in the high court in the past, but had not joined in the last chief justice search.

De Leon was also earlier nominated but declined to become chief justice. Reyes did not make it to the JBC long list for the chief justice race.

Cruz-Avisado is a former judge from General Santos City who has a PhD in development studies. A women's and children's rights advocate, she has written two books about the judiciary.

One declined his nomination while two failed to give their conformity to recommendations before the September 17 deadline, Mejia said.

Mejia said the JBC would come up with a long list of candidates within this week. He also said candidates who already joined the chief justice search — Diokno, Villanueva and Herbosa — no longer need to undergo another public interview or pschological exam.

The JBC is the body tasked by the Constitution to screen and vet nominees to the President for vacant posts in the judiciary and the offices of the Ombudsman and Deputy Ombudsman.

The candidates will next have to submit documentary requirements and be subjected to a public interview. The JBC has to come up with a shortlist from which President Benigno Aquino III will pick the next associate justice to complete the roster of the 15-member Supreme Court en banc. Aquino has 90 days to pick an appointee from the time the 15th SC post was vacated. — KBK, GMA News