A total of 7,146 law graduates took the Bar exams at the University of Sto. Tomas on Sunday, the first of the four Sundays slated for the “most grueling and difficult” licensure exams in the country.
Supreme Court spokesman Theodore Te said the number of Bar takers is the biggest in the last four years.
Some of the Bar takers started arriving at the UST campus through the Espana gates as early as 5 a.m. on Sunday as tight security measures were being enforced in and around the campus to secure the examinees.
“After the gates are closed, no one will be allowed to enter without the permission of the Bar Chairperson, Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo-De Castro,” Te said.
The SC official said the exams last four hours in the morning or from 8 a.m. to 12 noon and another four hours in the afternoon or from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
The examinees were required to wear their color-coded IDs together with their Notice of Admission, which serve as their pass for admission into the UST’s compound, buildings and assigned room.
Every examinee is also obliged to use clear plastic bags and submit themselves to inspection upon entry while electronic gadgets such as Ipads, tablets, laptops, and the like are not allowed inside and should be deposited with the security personnel assigned at the entrance.
Likewise, the examinees are not allowed to alight from or park their vehicles inside the UST.
Policemen who were also deployed to secure this year’s Bar exams provided security for the supporters of the Bar takers outside the UST campus.
In 2010, a grenade was thrown outside of the De La Salle University campus, the venue of that year’s Bar exams, resulting in the wounding of 47 people, including two who required amputations.
The 2015 Bar Exams will cover the subjects: Political Law, Labor Law, Civil Law, Taxation, Mercantile Law, Criminal Law, Remedial Law and Legal and Judicial Ethics.
The exams will continue over the remaining Sundays of November (15, 22 and 29).
This year’s Bar exams is the 114th such exams to be conducted.