SC orders LEB to explain PhiLSAT

BAGUIO CITY , Philippines  – The Supreme Court (SC) has ordered the Legal Education Board (LEB) to explain its memorandum centralizing entrance examinations in law schools.

In full session here on Tuesday, the high court required the LEB to answer a petition filed by retired Makati Regional Trial Court Judge Oscar Pimentel questioning the conduct of the Philippine Law School Admission Test (PhiLSAT).

The SC gave LEB, through its chairman Emerson Aguende, 10 days to submit its comment.

The petition questioned the constitutionality of Republic Act 7662, the Legal Education Reform Act, which became the basis for the issuance of LEB Memorandum Order No. 7 for the conduct of PhiLSAT.

Pimentel, a member of the University of Sto. Tomas faculty of Civil Law, urged the high court to stop the implementation of the LEB order. 

The memorandum dated Dec. 29, 2016 provided for the mechanisms of the one-day aptitude test to measure the academic potentials of an examinee who wants to pursue law.

The first PhiLSAT examination was held on April 16 in seven pilot sites: Baguio City, Metro Manila, Legazpi City, Cebu City, Iloilo City, Davao City and Cagayan de Oro.

According to the assailed memorandum, while school year 2017-2018 will be the pilot year for PhiLSAT, law schools will still be allowed to enroll students who took the exams but did not meet the passing score of 55 percent.

The new rule requires law schools to comply with the provisions of the regulation or they will be subjected to sanctions and fines of up to P10,000.