UC reiterates offer to host Bar exams

CEBU, Philippines - The University of Cebu reiterated its offer to host the Bar examinations should Cebu be chosen as pilot area for the regionalization this year.

Dean Baldomero Estenzo, of the UC College of Law, said they are very much ready to host the Bar examinations. Estenzo said he offered the school as venue when the Bar regionalization was discussed in one of the meetings with the law school deans.

“Even USJ-R (University of San Jose-Recoletos) and University of San Carlos were also willing (to provide venue),” he added.

He said the Supreme Court, which administers the Bar exams, would no longer need to worry about rental fees for the venue as the school would offer it free of charge. He said the venue could be any of the UC campuses.

Former Court of Appeals Justice Portia Hormachuelos, dean of the University of the Visayas College of Law, earlier announced that the 2016 Bar Examinations Committee has finally approved the proposal to conduct the annual licensure exams for admission to the Philippine Bar in Cebu City this year.

However, the plan will only push through if at least 1,000 law graduates prefer to take the bar exams this November here in the province.

Once realized, it would be the first time that Bar examinations would be held simultaneously outside Manila. Cebu is given only until Thursday next week to submit the results of the survey to the bar exams committee. The survey will cover would-be graduates and re-takers as the respondents.

 Hormachuelos added that other law schools outside Cebu will also be involved since the province has only 250 expected fresh law graduates.

 She said bar takers in Cebu would also expect lesser burden, both mentally and financially, if the exams are held in Cebu, apart from the SC saving money from bar-related expenses.

She earlier disclosed that the Legal Education Board, which supervises all law schools in the country, and the Philippine Association of Law Schools had been paying P4.5 million to University of Santo Tomas as bar exams venue for years already.

Estenzo said he sees no problem in holding Bar exams in Cebu just like the other licensure examinations conducted by the Professional Regulation Commission. He added that tight security would also be implemented in the venue.

 “I’m sure that the city government of Cebu and the Province of Cebu are willing to help,” he said. — (FREEMAN)