Current Bar Exam Chairman Justice Marvic Leonen, announced 16 local testing sites during the first contract signing of the Local Testing Center Memorandum of Agreement in Saint Louis University Baguio on July 8, 2021. Two of which are campuses of Mindanao State University in Iligan and General Santos City.
In efforts to address inequality, the Supreme Court En Banc has finally acceded to the proposal of the Philippine Law Schools Association to regionalize Bar Exams by having local testing centers across the Philippines.
Other Law schools have likewise consented to the Memorandum of Agreement based on the template approved by the SC en banc, namely Ateneo de Manila University, Manila Adventist Saint Louis University- Baguio City, Saint Louis College- La union, Saint Mary’s University, Cagayan State University- Tuguegarao, La Salle- Lipa, University of Nueva Caceres- Bicol, La Salle- Bacolod, Central Philippine University- Iloilo, University of Cebu, Ateneo de Davao University, Xavier University- Ateneo de Cagayan and Ateneo de Zamboanga University.
Leonen added that applications from other schools are still pending and that he is also negotiating with other prominent schools to accommodate more takers. He emphasized that the University of the Philippines- Diliman will be the command center.
“In total, we might have 25 testing centers throughout the country”, he declared.
Leonen asserted that this would serve as a safety measure to avoid the possibility of spreading COVID, considering the high number of takers. He also claimed that the end goal of setting up local testing centers is to uphold equity and social justice to afford students from far-flung areas the equal opportunities and advantages that those from Luzon usually experience.
He confidently ended his speech, saying, “If we can do something about inequalities in this country, we should address it by systems. If not, by implementations. If not by systems and implementations, by law, by rules, by programs or by the Bar.”
Meanwhile, MSU Dean Annabelle Cañazares- Mindalano posted on her Facebook account the good news and thanked the whole Mindanao State University system.
“My thanks to the constant support of the University led by MSU System Pres. Habib Macaayong and other MSU officials. My gratitude to Chancellor Sukarno Tanggol, Chancellor Anshari P Ali, VC Usman Aragasi, VC Zed Ditucalan, Dir. Jose Trillo, Dir. Dante Dinawanao, AD Joey Disocor, AD Barry Lucman Balt, AD Norhabib Sumndad Barodi, Prof. Isnira Baginda, and other officials for their commitment and work in making this endeavor a reality, for making MSU part of this historic #NovemBar2021 a.k.a. #BestBarEver.”, she shared.
The Bar Examination will push through this November after being postponed last year. By then, it will be the most innovative and biggest bar exam to date.
