The Cebu City chapter of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP-Cebu City) has asked the Supreme Court (SC) to postpone the online bar examinations in areas affected by super typhoon “Odette.”
The 2020-2021 bar examinations have been set by the SC on Jan. 16, 23, 30 and Feb. 6, 2020 in at least 29 testing centers nationwide.
IBP-Cebu City issued a resolution to formally plead the SC for the postponement.
Among the innovations introduced by the 2020-2021 bar examinations committee, chaired by Associate Justice Marvic M.V.F. Leonen, were the “decentralization and computerization of the Bar Examination,” it said
But, it said, typhoon “Odette” caused “severe damage to Cebu, Bohol, Southern Leyte, and other areas in Mindanao.”
“Many have lost their homes and are without electricity and water,” the IBP-Cebu City lamented.
“Telecommunication lines, Wi-Fi and data connection have been cut off,” it added.
At the same time, IBP-Cebu Chapter told the SC that many law schools have also reached out to bar candidates but have “yet to hear from all their bar candidates.”
Those whom the law schools were able to reach have “signified their request to have the Bar Examinations postponed,” it said.
It also told the SC:
“A majority of the barristers in Cebu, Bohol, Southern Leyte and other areas in Mindanao have suffered from the effects of the typhoon and have not only lost focus in their preparation but had to use their resources they have supposedly prepared for the Bar Examinations to rebuild their homes and provide for their families.”
“There is equal concern for court personnel and lawyers who have volunteered to be proctors during the Bar Examinations as they too have been affected by the typhoon.”