CHIEF Justice Alexander Gesmundo has thumbed down the suggestion of Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III to scrap the conduct of Bar exams for aspiring lawyers.
In a chance interview with reporters, Gesmundo also noted that the Court cannot just simply abolish the Bar exams since it is required under the Rules of Court.
“There is a specific rule under Rules of Court that provides the mandatory taking of Bar exams as well as its coverage so far as long as it is in the Rules of Court , we have to comply with it,” CJ Gesmundo said.
He added that the Bar exams is necessary to ensure that aspiring lawyers are qualified to perform their duties to the public.
“I respect the view of Secretary Bello but as far as the practice of law, I think we should maintain the Bar examinations so that we can sift those who are competent, considering the nature of the legal profession. The legal profession is vested with public interest,” the Chief Justice stressed.
He also noted that the holding of the annual Bar exams has been “traditionally looked up to and looked forward to” by law graduates.
“Aside from the tradition, it is important that we make sure that those who join the legal profession are competent that they can, you know, perform their duties as lawyers, not only to the Court but also to their clients and to society as a whole. So the qualifying exam for legal professionals should be therein continued,” the chief magistrate added.
CJ Gesmundo issued the statement in response to the labor chief’s call for the Court to scrap the licensure exams for lawyers, noting that students have already gone through a lot of exams before graduating from their respective law schools.
He also questioned the need for nursing graduates to undergo board examinations to get a license.
Bar examinations are traditionally held during the four Sundays of November, but the Covid-19 pandemic forced its suspension in 2020.
The next Bar exams is scheduled on November 2021, digitally, in several testing sites in the country
Associate Justice Marvic Leonen is the chairman for the 2020-21 Bar examinations.
In a message to reporters, Leonen also rejected Bello’s proposal, indicating that the conduct of Bar exams is within the jurisdiction of the judiciary, an independent branch of the government.
“I would like to clarify and every law student and applicant should know this: the Bar exam is conducted by the Supreme Court of the Republic of the Philippines,” Justice Leonen said.
“A Cabinet secretary is honorable, very well respected, he is even my friend. And had it been his Bar, I know that he would have taken advantage of this program. I know where he came from. But SC has not suspended the bar exam. We are full throttle in terms of preparing this, ” Leonen added.
Leonen has also announced that the Supreme Court will soon launch an online portal for the digital filing of petitions to take the Bar, which is called the Bar Personalized Login Unified System, or Bar PLUS.
“No longer will a Bar applicant have to go to Manila, (to) line up at the Office of the Bar Confidant,” he said.
Using Bar PLUS, Bar applicants will be able to submit their personal details, access the necessary forms for their application, upload petition requirements, and pay for their application digitally. Applicants will also be able to choose their preferred exam venue, subject to the approval of the Office of the Bar Confidant.
Leonen said that Bar PLUS is scheduled to be launched on July 15 of this year.
He also disclosed that as of Friday, 16 local testing centers have already agreed to the memorandum of agreement based on the template approved by the SC en banc.
Leonen added that the Court might have a total of 25 testing sites throughout the country, as the Court is still in the process of negotiating with several large schools.
CHED ‘not keen’
Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Chairman Prospero de Vera III, for his part said, he is not keen to the proposal to abolish licensure exams, particularly for law and nursing.
De Vera stressed that licensure exams is one of the standards being required in other countries when they plan to work abroad.
“We do not operate independently of the whole global education system,” de Vera told reporters in an out-of-town event on Thursday. He added that this might also affect the recognition of Filipinos when it comes to the educational degrees.
The CHED chief also wondered if the lack of teachers, nurses, and lawyers is one of the reasons of proposal.
If so, he stressed, there should be data to back the proposal to determine if the country really lack professionals.