5:25 p.m., January 20 – UST WILL be the new venue of this year’s bar examinations, which will
take place in November or two months later than usual.
Faculty of Civil Law Dean Nilo Divina said the Supreme Court had
decided to transfer the bar exam to UST in November, after the rainy
season. This gives aspiring lawyers more time to review.
“Its perfect and very timely since
it coincides with our quadricentennial year,” Divina added.
The implementation of a multiple-choice exam will also start this
year, as earlier proposed by former Civil Law dean Roberto Abad, now
associate justice at the Supreme Court.
“The first three Sundays will be allotted to the multiple-choice
questions while the fourth will be dedicated to the essays,” Divina
said.
Divina said a contract has been signed between UST and the Supreme
Court, which makes the campus the exam venue only for this year.
“We’re not yet sure for next year but I’m sure UST is a priority. The
contract should be subject to acceptable terms and conditions,” Divina
said.
Safer venue
The Supreme Court picked UST over Adamson University and the
Philippine International Convention Center after De La Salle
University declined to host the bar exams this year.
Court spokesman Midas Marquez said the transfer had nothing to do with
the grenade blast that injured 45 people in last year’s exams.
Divina said UST is a “safer” venue and has better facilities to cover
the 5,000 bar examinees each year.
“The University has a lot of space for the students. Bar takers can be
better prepared and conditioned because we have the Santisimo Rosario
Parish and the UST Hospital just in case,” Divina said.
Last year, 5,012 law graduates took the test, including 172
Thomasians. The Faculty of Civil Law got a 54.65 percent passing rate
last year, ranking as the seventh top-performing law school in the
country. Darenn G. Rodriguez
