52 bets vie for lone Sandigan vacancy

MANILA, Philippines - Fifty-two candidates are vying for the position of associate justice in the Sandiganbayan, the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) announced yesterday.

The position was vacated with the appointment of Justice Edilberto Sandoval as presiding justice last September. Court administrator and Supreme Court spokesman Jose Midas Marquez said the position is one of the vacancies with an “unusual big number of applicants.”Marquez said many applicants to higher level courts prefer the Sandiganbayan to the Court of Appeals (CA), which first assigns new entrants in Cebu or Cagayan de Oro. The Sandiganbayan has a fixed office in Quezon City.                       

He said the usual number of applicants for a post in the CA is only 30. Of the 52 candidates, 42 will be interviewed by the JBC when it re-sumes session next month.

The JBC said public interview of candidates for the Sandiganbayan post is scheduled on Jan. 12, 13, 18, 19 and 20, 2011. Among those applying for the vacancy are: Assistant Solicitor General Amparo Tang, former Justice undersecretary Linda Hornilla, and Ma. Nena Santos, who represents the families of victims of the Maguindanao massacre.

The others are: Selma Alaras, Reynaldo Alhambra, Rowena Adlawan, Oscar Badelles, Isaac de Alban, Esperanza Isabel Deslate, Maria Elisa Diy, Ma. Victoria Estoesta, Rochelle Yvette Dakanay-Galano; Severino de Castro Jr., Eugenio de la Cruz, Noli Diaz, Renato Francisco, Anthony Foz, Juanita Guerrero, Oscar Herrera Jr., Pedro Herrera-Davila, Mercedes Lacap, Aida Macapagal, Geraldine Macaraig; Carmelita Manahan, Godofredo Naui, Narmo Noblejas, Sylva Paderanga, Victoria Isabel Paredes, Vilma Pauig, Thelma Pe-Aguirre, Benjamin Pozon, Elvira Panganiban, Edgar Santos, Maria Filomena Singh, Wilhelmina Wagan, Reynaldo Ros, Manuel Siayngco, Reynaldo Saludares, Corazon Soluren, Rafael Cresencio Tan Jr., Salvador Timbang Jr. and Emma Torio.

The candidates who will no longer be interviewed are Victoriano Cabanos, Lita Genilo, Alice Gutierrez, Robert Kallos, Emmanuel Laurea, Silvino Pampilo Jr., Andres Soriano, Esteban Tacla Jr., Jesus Edwin Villasor and Marily Yap.