MANILA, Philippines -- A record high of 6,533 law graduates will take this year’s bar examination, to be held on all four Sundays of this month (September 7, 14, 21, and 28) at the De La Salle University (DLSU) on Taft Avenue, Manila.

Associate Justice Dante Tinga, bar exam committee chairman, said this year’s test for aspiring lawyers should be "the best-run professional exam."

Deputy Clerk of Court and Bar Confidant Ma. Cristina B. Layusa said of the 6,560 petitions to take the exam, 11 had been denied. Sixteen candidates have also withdrawn, reducing the number of examinees to 6,533 as of posting time.

Layusa said the 1,440 personnel -- building coordinators, superintendents, supervisors, head watchers, watchers, bar assistants, and special assistants -- who will administer the exam are also a record number.

She said the high court has coordinated with the Metro Manila Development Authority and Manila Police District for the fielding of traffic, area security, bomb disposal and mobile units.

Medical and dental personnel will also be deployed during all four Sundays.

Layusa reminded examinees to come early on the first Sunday of the exam because the annual Alay Lakad on Roxas Boulevard may affect traffic. The DLSU gates will open as early as 5 a.m.

The stretch of Taft Avenue from Quirino Avenue to Pablo Ocampo Sr. Street (formerly Vito Cruz) will be closed to traffic from 4 a.m. to 6 p.m. on all Sundays of the exam.

Tinga urged the personnel who will be administering the exam to "do our duty well…That way, the bar exam will remain to be most trusted, most honest, most popular."

This year's exam will use 95 rooms, five conference rooms, the Central Plaza, and 57 additional classrooms, including six theater-type rooms, of the DLSU Taft campus.

This year's bar exam is the 107th. It was first given in 1901 to 13 examinees.

The second highest number of bar examinees was in 2006, with 6,187, 1,893 of whom passed.

In recent history, the 2001 bar examination had the most passers -- 1,266, or 32.89 percent, of the 3,849 examinees.

Last year, of the 5,626 examinees, 1,289, or 22.91 percent, passed.

The high court issued a reminder against making noise within the perimeter of the exam venue. And because the nature of the bar exam is akin to a court proceeding, people should "observe the same conduct and decorum as they would [when they] attend a court hearing or when within the immediate vicinity thereof."

"Alcoholic beverages and any kind of deadly weapon shall be absolutely prohibited within the said area for the duration of the exam," the tribunal’s bar examination guidelines said.

Other prohibited activities are "'streaking' or any other form of exhibitionism; ati-atihan or any other form of parades; the playing of live or loud music; cheerleading exhibitions; political demonstrations; gambling; and other similar activities that cause disruption or disturbance to the examinees at any time on the day or on the eve of the examinations."

The tests end at 5 p.m. of the four Sundays.

The Supreme Court administers the bar examination pursuant to Article VIII, Sec. 5 of the Constitution, which empowers it to promulgate rules governing admission to the practice of law.

The rules of court provide that "a candidate may be deemed to have passed his examination successfully if he has obtained a general average of 75% in all subjects without falling below 50% in any subject."

In determining the average, subjects in the examinations are given the following relative weights: Political and International Law, 15%; Labor and Social Legislation, 10%; Civil Law, 15%; Taxation, 10%; Mercantile Law, 15%; Criminal Law, 10%; Remedial Law, 20%; and Legal Ethics and Practical Exercises, 5%, for a total of 100%.

Next year’s bar will be chaired by Associate Justice Antonio Nachura.