Bar exams start tomorrow

MANILA, Philippines - A total of 5,012 law graduates are set to take the Bar examinations at the De La Salle University in Manila starting tomorrow and on three succeeding Sundays.

Supreme Court Associate Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales will serve as Bar exam committee chairman for this year.

Deputy Clerk of Court and Bar Confidant Ma. Cristina Layusa said it would be the second time that two examiners would be designated in each of the eight subjects.

In the new format, every subject would be divided into two parts, each with a designated examiner, she added.

Layusa said of the 5,038 petitions to take the Bar exams, seven had been denied.

Nineteen candidates have withdrawn, reducing the number of Bar examinees to 5,012.

The southbound lane of Taft Ave. from Quirino Ave. to Pablo Ocampo St. (formerly Vito Cruz) will be closed to traffic from 4 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the four Sundays of this month.

DLSU gates will open as early as 5 a.m. during the Bar examination dates, she added.

Layusa said a total of 121 rooms distributed in six buildings inside will be used for the Bar exams.

Last year, 5,903 examinees from 108 law schools took the exams but only 1,451 or 24.58 percent passed.

The Rules of Court provide that a candidate may be deemed to have passed the Bar exams successfully if he has obtained a general average of 75 percent in all subjects without falling below 50 percent in any subject.

In determining the average, subjects in the examinations are given the following relative weights:

• Political and International Law, 15 percent;

• Labor and Social Legislation, 10 percent;

• Civil Law, 15 percent;

• Taxation, 10 percent;

• Mercantile Law, 15 percent;

• Criminal Law, 10 percent;

• Remedial Law, 20 percent; and

• Legal Ethics and Practical Exercises, 5 percent. – Edu Punay, Nestor Etolle