Lawyers: Decentralize bar exams

Members of Cebu’s judiciary and law school deans are once again calling for the decentralization of the bar examinations. They want them held in the regions and not just in Manila.

Lawyer Earl Bonachita, president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines-Cebu City Chapter, said he will meet with members to discuss submitting a petition to the Supreme Court.

Lawyer Baldomero Estenzo, dean of the University of Cebu College of Law, said law school deans are contemplating on filing before the Supreme Court a pleading to hold the bar exams outside Manila.

“It’s about time we file a petition before the Supreme Court,” Estenzo told Cebu Daily News.

He said they already sent a letter to the high court two years ago calling for the decentralization of the bar exams, but there was no response.

Associate Justice Gabriel Ingles of the Court of Appeals, whose wife was among the November 2011 bar exam passers, is amenable to the proposal.

“Taking the bar is not a joke financially. You budget around P200,000 for the entire duration that you review in Manila and take the bar. Emotionally, you are far from your family, especially when you’re married and have kids,” he told Cebu Daily News.

This was echoed by Alex Monteclar, dean of the University of San Carlos College of Law, who said aside from lesser expenses, bar examinees from Cebu will be more comfortable if the exams would be held here.

New lawyer Jed Lazaga, who was accused in the 2010 bar exams bombing and later cleared of charges, said it was not easy staying in Manila for months to review.

He said that not everybody was as lucky as him to have relatives and friends in Manila who made him stay at their places for free.

“Aside from it being costly, you are also not familiar with the places there,” he told Cebu Daily News.

His dean from the College of Law of the University of San Jose-Recoletos, Jonathan Capanas, said that their graduates had many complaints about their stay in Manila for the review.

Examinees from the provinces have to spend for their fare and lodging in Manila.

In 2010, Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez said the Supreme Court opposed the holding of the bar examinations outside Manila due to budget constraints.

The Supreme Court reportedly fears that answers will leak during the transport of the test materials from Manila to the province.

Ingles said leakage of the exam could be avoided with the use of modern technology. He said security is not a question, especially with the new Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) format of the exams.

He said that it is about time bar exams are held in the regions, and that universities in Cebu are capable to host exams.

“Hosting is not a problem. The Supreme Court will still have to administer the examinations. They just have to assign people here to conduct the examinations,” he added.