Even if the weather takes a turn for the worse on Sunday and the next three Sundays after that, this year’s bar examinees will not have to worry about getting to the University of Sto. Tomas (UST) in the flood-prone area of España Boulevard in Manila.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued a contingency plan for the bar examinations, saying that should heavy rains fall on any one of the four exam days, it would deploy several buses to pick up both examinees and duty personnel and take them to UST.
It designated the following pickup points and said the buses would be there as early as 5 a.m. and depart for UST at exactly 6 a.m.:
Quezon City Memorial Circle (two buses)
Park and Ride in Lawton, Manila (two buses)
Supreme Court Compound, Taft Avenue (two buses)
Coastal Mall Terminal, Parañaque City (two buses)
Greenbelt and Glorietta, Ayala Center, Makati (two buses)
Marikina Sports Complex (one bus)
“Only bar examinees and duty personnel are allowed to ride the shuttle buses but the boarding shall be made on a first come, first serve basis,’’ the high court advisory said.
To avail themselves of the free transport, bar examinees must present their Notice of Admission, Gate Pass and/or identification card to the bus driver.
In case of heavy flooding inside the UST compound before the start of the bar examinations, commuter vans will be on hand to bring the examinees and duty personnel from the UST gates to their assigned buildings.
Should there still be floods at the end of the examination day, the commuter vans will be on standby at each of the examination buildings to transport examinees to Osmeña and Arellano Drives near Gate 5 on España Boulevard where the shuttle buses will be waiting for them. Christine O. Avendaño