Bar exams start in Manila; liquor ban ordered

ASPIRING lawyers will  put their long years of study to the ultimate test when they start the annual

Bar Examinations  today.

A total of 5,686 law graduates from over 100 law schools nationwide will take the exams to be held at the University of Sto. Tomas (UST) in Manila on four consecutive Sundays on  October 7, 14, 21, and 28.

The number is fewer than last year’s 6,200 examinees.

Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim issued an executive order prohibiting the sale and distribution of beer and intoxicating liquor on the four Sundays of October around the permiter walls of UST.

For the second year, multiple choice questions (MCQ) will comprise 60 percent of the total score.

Essay-type items, which used to be the sole format, will make up 40 percent.

The Supreme Court (SC) also said there will be a performance test (trial memorandum) in the afternoon of the last Sunday.

Associate Justice Martin Villarama was designated e chairman of the 2012 Bar Examinations Committee.

Joan Largo, dean of the University of San Carlos (USC) in Cebu City, said 79 law graduates of the school will  take the exams today.

She advised exam takers to review well and pray.

“The Bar exams is matter between yourself and God. As in any endeavor, they should ask assistance from God. We can’t  do things by ourselves,” said Largo.

Largo said she welcomed the MCQ-type exams since they measure the examinees knowledge of the law.

Lawyer Jed Lazaga, a graduate of the University of San Jose-Recoletos who was mistakenly tagged as a suspect  in the 2010 Bar exam blast, advised examinees to be well rested before the exams.

“The crucial part is the first day. If you’re not prepared on the first day, you’ll get affected in the succeeding schedules,” he said.

Lazaga recalled how he couldn’t sleep the night before the first Bar exam last year.

“I was overtaken by fear. On the first day of the exams, I was sleepy,” he recalled.

Lazaga, now 26, passed  the Bar last year.

“The Bar Exams are really hard. But when you pass, it’s all worth it. There are many opportunities,” said Lazaga who is presently practicing law.

Lazaga was cleared by the  National Bureau of Investigation in the 2010 commotion.  Anthony Nepomuceno, a member of the Alpha Phi Omega (APO) fraternity,  was identified as the alleged culprit.