Bar exams reset to January 2022

MANILA – Aspiring lawyers would have to wait some more after the Supreme Court (SC) moved the Bar examinations from November to January next year due to the health crisis.

It will be the first Bar exams to be held in multiple sites after the SC approved the 24 testing venues in August.

The four-Sunday exams were canceled last year due to the pandemic.

Bar Bulletin No. 28 released on Tuesday stated the SC “decided to reset the Bar Examinations from November 2021 to January 16, 23, 30, and February 6, 2022”.

Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, the Bar examinations chair, said the SC arrived at the decision “after considering the Covid-19 situation nationally, and in all testing sites, as well as receiving advice from various experts”.

The decision was made out of “an abundance of caution and to assure the highest level of safety for all the Bar applicants and personnel”.

“Treat this as an opportunity. Keep your momentum. Remember that you study not only to pass the Bar Examinations, but also so that you will best serve the others, Study well, purposively, and with passion,” Leonen stated.

The application period will not be reopened and preparatory activities shall continue, including the selection of venue of Bar applicants.

Previous Bar examinations were conducted every September at De La Salle University but were moved to November at the University of Santo Tomas following the 2010 bombing along Taft Avenue, reportedly by members of a fraternity based in San Beda College.

Nobody died but at least 47 were injured, including two female Law students that resulted in the amputation of their legs.

Bar applicants will select their local testing center through the Bar Personal Login Unified System.

Venue-matching will not be on a first-come, first-served basis. Instead, applicants from remote areas will be prioritized.

The SC advised applicants to choose the testing center that is closest to their residence.