Cebu City Councilor Raymond Alvin Garcia files a resolution asking the Supreme Court of the Philippines to consider holding the Bar examinations outside Metro Manila following the stellar performance of Visayas-based schools University of San Carlos and Silliman University in the 2016 Bar Exams. Also in the photo are Councilors Jocelyn Pesguera and James Cuenco (far left). Garcia, Pesquera and Cuenco are all proud graduates of USC-Law.
CDN FILE PHOTO
CEBU CITY
After the exemplary performance of Visayas-based schools — University of San Carlos in Cebu and Silliman University in Dumaguete — during the 2016 Bar exams, the Cebu City Council has passed a resolution calling on the Supreme Court (SC) to hold the monthlong exams outside Metro Manila.
In its regular session yesterday, the Cebu City Council asked the SC and the Office of the Bar Confidant to consider holding the Bar exams in other parts of the country though not necessarily in Cebu.
The resolution was authored by Councilor Raymond Garcia, chairperson of the council committee on laws.
“It will help the examinees from Visayas and Mindanao. When you change the venue, maybe the percentage of passers from Visayas and Mindanao will increase,” he said.
Garcia, a lawyer himself, cited the heavy burden on bar takers from the provinces who leave behind their families to take the grueling exams at a time when they need all the moral support they could get.
Aside from the emotional burden, staying in Manila for at least a month to review for the Bar and take the exams is also financially taxing, considering the high cost of living at the nation’s capital, Garcia pointed out.
The SC may have been concerned with the “logistical nightmare” in bringing the Bar exams outside Manila, which was why previous calls for regional centers have not been approved, said Garcia.
But he hoped that recent results of the Bar will convince the SC to change its mind,“I’m keeping my fingers crossed. Maybe this time, the Supreme Court will realize the advantage of holding the Bar exams in regional centers. I’m not saying in Cebu, but outside Manila,” he said.
Four graduates of the University of San Carlos (USC) in Cebu City landed on the top ten of the 2016 Bar whose results were released last week including the top 1 spot taken by Karen Mae Calam.
The other topnotchers from USC were Fiona Cristy Lao (3rd Place), Anne Margaret Momongan (7th Place) and Jefferson Gomez (8th Place).
The Cebu City Council also passed a resolution commending Calam, Lao, Momongan, and Gomez along with USC School of Law and Governance dean Joan Largo.
USC-Law registered a 100 percent passing rate in the recent Bar exams.
Acting Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella, a lawyer and a product of USC-Law, also commended Largo in a personal letter he sent yesterday.
“It is my sincere and fervent hope that the USC College of Law will continue to serve as the paragon of quality legal education in the Philippines and mold future Carolinian lawyers imbibed with patriotism and dedication top the common good. Again, congratulations and Godspeed,” his letter read.
Aside from Labella, Councilors Garcia, Joy Pesquera, Jose Daluz III, Nendell Hanz Abella and Sisinio Andales are also graduates of USC-Law.
Meanwhile, in a separate resolution authored by Andales, the Council also commended three city hall employees who passed the recent Bar exams, namely Mario Dennis Calvo, Misaellee Tejano and Mark Jason Tirol for “giving pride and honor to Cebu City,” the resolution read.