So far, there are now 16 testing centers for the 2020 and 2021 bar examinations which will be conducted online and scheduled for four Sundays this November, the Supreme Court (SC) announced in Baguio City last Thursday night, July 8.
Associate Justice Marvic M.V.F. Leonen, chair of the committee on bar examinations, said “the SC might have a total of 25 testing sites throughout the country, as the Court is still in the process of negotiating with several large schools to accommodate more bar examinees.”
Due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the SC cancelled the 2020 bar examinations and decided to hold them simultaneously with the 2021 tests with more testing sites instead of only in Manila as previously done.
The online examinations and the decision to hold them in many testing sites were conceived by the SC, not only because of the risks due to pandemic, but also to lessen the expenses of bar graduates who, previously, had to go to Manila for the tests.
This time, bar examinees would have a choice where to take the examinations preferably near their residents.
Justice Leonen said 16 local testing centers “have agreed to the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) based on the template approved by the Supreme Court En Banc:”
He identified them as the Ateneo de Manila University; Manila Adventist College; Saint Louis University Baguio City; Saint Louis College – La Union; Saint Mary’s University; Cagayan State University; De La Salle Lipa in Lipa City; University of Nueva Caceres; University of St. La Salle – Bacolod; Central Philippine University; University of Cebu – Banilad; Mindanao State University – Iligan; Mindanao State University – General Santos City; Ateneo de Davao University; Xavier University – Cagayan de Oro; and Ateneo de Zamboanga University.
He did not name which other universities or colleges the SC has been negotiating with as testing centers.
The SC last Thursday, July 8, signed a MOA with SLU in Baguio City as testing site.
Before the MOA signing, Justice Leonen presented the mechanics of the online bar examinations.
He said the SC “is ready to conduct localized Bar Examinations, with students bringing their own devices into their own classrooms,” with each classroom positioned following the guidelines of the COVID-19 Inter-Agency Task Force.
He pointed out that the SC will soon launch an online portal for the digital filing of petitions to take the bar examinations called the Bar Personalized Login Unified System, or Bar PLUS.
“No longer will a Bar applicant have to go to Manila, (to) line up at the Office of the Bar Confidant,” he said.
He explained that “using the Bar PLUS, Bar Examinations applicants will be able to submit their personal details, access the necessary forms for their application, upload petition requirements, and pay for their application digitally.”
“Applicants will also be able to choose their preferred exam venue, subject to the approval of the Office of the Bar Confidant,” he said.
The Bar PLUS is scheduled to be launched on July 15, he added.
In his closing remarks, Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo said the reforms for bar examinations will continue beyond this year, as he will ask the members of the SC “to look into the revision of Rule 138 (of the Rules of Court), particularly on the Bar Exam coverage.”
Gesmundo pointed out the provisions of Rule 138 have not changed since they were promulgated in1964.
“Law courses have become varied; a lot of changes have happened in the field of law. And yet, we have not looked into these specific provisions of the Rules of Court,” he said.
“I would like the Court to continue looking at the course offerings of law schools along with the Revised Model Curriculum prepared by the the Legal Education Board,” he said, as he pointed out that the courses offered by law schools must be synchronized with the coverage of the bar examinations.
Gesmundo had served as chairperson of the Organizing Committee for the SC’s 2019 Legal Education Summit, a two-day conference organized by the SC to assess and improve the quality of legal education in the country.
The SC-SLU MOA was signed by Leonen and Rev. Fr. Gilbert B. Sales, CICM, SLU president.
Chief Justice Gesmundo and SLU School of Law Dean Christine Angelica B. Elveña signed as witnesses.
Also present during the MOA signing at the SLU campus were Senior Associate Justice Estela M. Perlas Bernabe, Associate Justices Alfredo Benjamin S. Caguioa, Ramon Paul L. Hernando, Rosmari D. Carandang, Amy C. Lazaro Javier, Henri Jean Paul B. Inting, Rodil V. Zalameda, Mario V. Lopez, Samuel H. Gaerlan, Ricardo R. Rosario, and Jhosep Y. Lopez.