First of 4 bar exams starts Sunday

Street children pick up balloons used by schools in bidding their Bar examinees good luck on the first Sunday of the Bar exams. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – More than 5,600 law graduates are set to take the bar exams starting October 7 at the University of Sto. Tomas in Manila, a Supreme Court official said Saturday.

Deputy Clerk of Court and Bar Confidant Ma. Cristina Layusa said 5,686 law graduates will take the exams this Sunday, and the next three Sundays.

Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim has banned the sale and distribution of alcoholic beverages in the vicinity of UST during the exams.

Layusa said the examinees will have to hurdle eight subjects–two per Sunday. This is a departure from last year’s bar exam which was organized by topics and subtopics rather than by stating the covered subjects.

A total of 5,710 petitions to take the exam were filed but five were denied while 19 others were withdrawn, Layusa said.

Supreme Court Justice Martin S. Villarama Jr. heads the 2012 bar examinations committee, she added.

This Sunday, the law graduates will take the exams on political law and labor and social legislation; the civil law and taxation on October 14; mercantile law and criminal law on Oct. 21, and remedial law and legal ethics and practical exercises on Oct. 28.

Layusa said that each exam would consist of a multiple choice question portion (60 percent) and an essay portion (40 percent). A candidate may be deemed to have passed the exam if he or she gets a general average of 75 percent. The rule disqualifying applicants with grades in any subject below 50 percent was abolished in 2010, Layusa said.

There will also be a performance test (trial memorandum) in the afternoon of the last Sunday, she added.

The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers urged those taking the bar exams to take up the cause of poor Filipinos if they pass.

“As you walk towards your exam room, with your exam permit, sign pen and pencils, reviewers, lucky charms and goody bags ready, after the prayers and novenas, and after the din of the gung-ho pep talks have faded, we ask you to pause for a moment and reflect: what is this all for?” the NUPL said in a statement.

“There are just too many lawyers in the country. You can either be just another one among the 50,000. Or you can take the choice to heed the clarion call to serve the people, or at least contribute in your own little way towards this end. You can take the road less traveled by,” it added.

The NUPL said hurdling the bar exams was “not the final challenge” for the country’s future lawyers.

“Rather, it is to make your legal education and practice meaningful, relevant and noble. It is in taking the cause of the poor and the oppressed, the majority of the Filipino people, and fighting their legal battle; it is in ensuring that the poor have access to justice and competent lawyers; it is in demanding that the government remain faithful and accountable to the people,” the NUPL said.

“Simply put, the challenge is to use the law as a tool to make society a better place for the majority,” it added.

Layusa said that Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim has issued a executive order prohibiting the sale and distribution of beer and other intoxicating liquor on the four Sundays of October around the perimeter walls of UST.

“No store, restaurant, eatery, café or any eating places or ambulant vendors shall be allowed to sell, peddle or offer for drink to any person intoxicating beverages, such as: beer, liquors, wines, and the like between the hours of 4:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. within 200 meters from the perimeter walls of UST along España Blvd., Lacson Avenue (formerly Gov. Forbes), Dapitan Street and P. Noval Street,” the mayor’s order said.