UST WILL host the Bar Examinations for the seventh straight year this November amid controversy over the hazing death of law freshman Horacio Castillo III.
Civil Law Dean Nilo Divina said the University remained focus on the preparation for the exams despite “momentary distractions.”
“We remain focused on our goals, and the bar exam preparations are in full swing. [There were] momentary distractions but we are back on track,” Divina told the Varsitarian.
Divina said there was “no reason to take a leave of absence” amid claims he bore some responsibility for the hazing incident.
“I cannot abandon our barristers who are weeks away from taking on the biggest challenge of their life and at this point, cannot afford any distraction that can lower their morale,” Divina said in an interview.
“I cannot abandon my students who look up to me for what they hope to be their best course in commercial law. I cannot abandon my student-constituents at this critical phase of our faculty’s history,” he added.
He said the Supreme Court justices had been “very pleased” with UST as the venue of the Bar Exams for the last six years.
The Office of the Bar Confidant and the office of Associate Justice Lucas Bersamin, chairman of the Bar Exams and a former faculty member of Civil Law, are managing the preparations for the Bar exams, with the assistance of the University.
Special lectures
Divina said the Faculty would give special lectures to students who will take the exams aside from the regular pre-bar lectures, to help boost their performance this year.
“We have also compiled [jurisprudence] for their convenient reference [from] the last five years, as well as the ponencias of the [Bar] chairman (Bersamin) in all eight subjects,” he said.
The exams, which will all be essay questions, include the subjects political law, labor law, civil law, taxation, mercantile law, criminal law, remedial law, and legal and judicial ethics.
The 2017 Bar Examinations is slated on all four Sundays of November. Over 7,000 bar examinees are expected to take the exams.
A liquor ban will be implemented around the campus and the selling of beer and other alcoholic beverages will be prohibited.
Last year, UST’s passing rate soared to 96.25 percent with 77 passing the exams out of 80 first-time examinees.
This year marks the 116th edition of the Bar Exams.
