MANILA, Philippines - No untoward incident was reported during the four Sundays when the Bar examinations were held at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) in Manila.
This year’s Bar concluded peacefully and in order yesterday.
Of the 6,344 examinees registered with the Supreme Court (SC), 5,987 remained up to the last day of examinations for Remedial Law and Legal Ethics, according to the SC public information office.
Eighty-eight-year-old Bienvenido Hilario was among the examinees who remained up to the last day.
He took the Bar for the third time after failing in 2008 and 2012.
Police secured UST’s perimeter just like in the three previous Sundays.
The southbound stretch of España Boulevard from Lacson to P. Noval streets was closed to traffic from 3 to 6 p.m.
The city government of Manila imposed a liquor ban on the areas surrounding UST during the four Sundays of exams.
The SC Bar committee for 2014 chaired by Associate Justice Diosdado Peralta introduced two new innovations this year.
For the first time in 113 years, the SC used bar codes on booklets of examinees.
Under the new system, bar codes were placed on exam booklets and corresponding stickers bearing their names were placed on the assigned seats of examinees.
It replaced the use of name cards for examinees in previous Bar examinations.