Manila cops to secure Bar exam venue

MANILA, Philippines – To prevent a repeat of the 2010 Bar exam bombing, which left 47 people wounded, Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada ordered the Manila Police District (MPD) yesterday to set up a tight security cordon around the University of Santo Tomas (UST), the venue of the Bar examinations this month.

“We will utilize all our available law enforcement and protective units to ensure the orderly and peaceful conduct of the examinations. We can’t let any untoward incidents happen again,” he said.

A portion of España Avenue (going to Quiapo) will be closed to vehicular traffic during the four Sundays of this month to give way to thousands of examinees.

Estrada directed MPD director Senior Superintendent Joel Coronel to deploy enough police officers to foil any attempt to disrupt the examinations.

Coronel said the MPD will deploy round-the-clock patrols, especially on the first Sunday.

“For this year, again, the whole perimeter of UST shall be secured, so meaning España Avenue, Lacson, Dapitan and P. Noval streets will be closely guarded,” Coronel said.

The MPD will also enforce a city ordinance that bans the sale, use or distribution of liquor within 100 meters of UST.

 “That liquor ban takes effect the night before the Bar exams and until the midnight the following day. This is to prevent previous occasions where there are members of fraternities, organizations, and other associations who will be drinking along the streets during the exam,” Coronel said.

On the afternoon of Sept. 26, 2010, a grenade, allegedly thrown by a fraternity member, exploded outside the De La Salle University (DLSU) along Taft Avenue in Malate while thousands of examinees were leaving the school grounds.

The explosion wounded 47 people, including two law graduates who required amputations.

The Department of Justice  ordered the indictment of Anthony Leal Nepomuceno, an Alpha Phi Omega fraternity member and the prime suspect in the grenade attack.

A year after the blast, the yearly Supreme Court-administered Bar examinations were transferred from DLSU to UST.