TWO days from now, a total of 8,701 aspiring lawyers will gather at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) in España, Manila, to take the 2018 Bar Examinations.
Deputy Clerk of Court and Bar Confidant Ma. Cristina B. Layusa said the number of Bar examinees this year is the highest in recent years, although based on the record of previous Bar exams, it is not expected that all of them will be able to hurdle the grueling four-Sunday exams, which will be conducted on November 4, 11, 18 and 25.
The 2018 Bar Examinations Committee Chairman is Supreme Court Justice Mariano C. del Castillo.
Based on the Bar Bulletin issued by the Office of the Bar Confidant (OBC), this year’s examinations will consist of 100 percent essay-type questions.
On November 4 examinees will take the exams on Political and International Law and Labor Law and Social Legislation; Civil Law on November 11; Mercantile and Criminal Law on November 18; and Remedial Law and Legal and Judicial Ethics and Practical exercises on the last Sunday of the month.
The OBC also announced contingency measures in case of heavy rains and flooding. It said the Court will provide 10 buses to transport examinees and duty personnel to the UST from several pickup points in case of heavy rains in the morning of a Bar examination day.
The buses shall be stationed as early as 4:30 a.m. and will leave exactly at 5 a.m. in the following areas: Quezon City Memorial Circle near Philippine Coconut Authority (two buses); Park and Ride, Lawton, Manila (one bus); SC New Building Compound, Taft Avenue (two buses); Greenbelt and Glorietta, Ayala Center, Makati (two buses); and Marikina Sports Complex (one bus).
The OBC stressed that only Bar examinees and duty personnel will be allowed to ride the shuttle buses, and boarding shall be on a first-come, first-served basis.
Examinees and duty personnel are required to present their notice of admission, gate pass and/or identification cards to the bus diver before they will be allowed to board the bus.
In case of flooding inside the UST compound before the start of the exams, the OBC assured examinees and duty personnel SC’s commuter vans will be on standby to transport them from the UST gates to their respective designation.
The OBC added senior citizens, pregnant women and persons with disability (PWDs) shall be prioritized in the use of the commuter vans.
The commuter vans will also be made available outside each examination building to transport examinees and personnel to the gates in case there is still flooding after the exams. The SC shuttle buses will then transport and drop them off in the following areas:
For northbound passengers, they will be dropped off at the Quezon City Memorial Circle (near Philippine Coconut Authority) while southbound passengers at Park and Ride, Lawton, Supreme Court premises, and at the Edsa Magallanes Flyover (beneath the flyover) in Pasay.
For Makati-bound examinees and personnel, the OBC said the designated drop-off area is at the Ayala Center (Glorietta and Greenbelt), while those going to the Marikina area shall be at the Marikina Sports Complex.