06 October 2013, 9:38 p.m. – FOR THE third consecutive year, authorities tightened security in and around the University as 5,593 law graduates trooped to the campus to take the first part of the bar examinations today.
The Manila Police District, the Judicial Security Office, and the UST Security Office deployed security personnel within and outside the University, while the Manila Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council and the Bureau of Fire Protection were on standby for emergencies.
The number of this year’s bar applicants, which includes 77 from the Faculty of Civil Law, is slightly lower than last year’s 5,686 examinees.
Aside from the Supreme Court ban on traditional “bar operations” such as cheering and putting up streamers, the Manila city government also imposed a liquor ban on establishments around the campus.
The Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) directed the flow of traffic on Lacson Avenue and España Boulevard.
Only the Lacson and P. Noval gates of the University were opened to those going to the Santissimo Rosario Parish and UST Hospital. Non-examinees were not allowed to enter the areas surrounding the exam venues.
The Main Building, St. Raymund de Peñafort Building and the Benavides Building were barricaded. The Tan Yan Kee Student Center will remain closed on all Saturdays and Sundays of October.
The high tribunal decided to revert to the original format of the bar exams this year. Essay-type questions will account for 80 percent of the entire test, while multiple-choice questions will have a weight of 20 percent, a change from last year’s 60-percent essay and 40-percent multiple-choice format.
This morning’s examinations covered Political Law while the afternoon exam covered Labor Law. The exam on Oct. 13, meanwhile, will cover Civil Law and Taxation. Commercial Law and Criminal Law will be the coverage of the exams on Oct. 20, while Remedial Law and Legal Ethics will be the scope for last day of exams on Oct. 27.
The chairman of this year’s bar examinations committee is Associate Justice Arturo Brion. John Joseph G. Basijan and Jon Christoffer R. Obice
