There were 143 examinees who showed up for the 2020/2021 Bar examinations at the University of Saint La Salle in Bacolod City Friday morning, February 4, Executive Judge Raymond Joseph Javier of the Bacolod Regional Trial Court said.
The bar examinations were set for Friday and Sunday, February 6.
Javier said the number of examinees could change on Sunday as some get demoralized and quit.
University of St. La Salle College of Law dean, Rosanne Rojas Gonzaga, said a total of 169 examinees for the bar examinations at the USLS site had registered and 165 passed the COVID-19 tests.
She did not know why only 143 appeared Friday morning.
Gonzaga said of the 143, there were 40 examinees from USLS who were taking the examinations.
University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos College of Law dean, Dodie Turla, said of the 86 law graduates from UNO-R 82 were taking the examinations at USLS, one each in Manila and Iloilo, and two tested positive for COVID-19.
Supreme Court Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, in a virtual press conference Friday, said more than 11,000 took the Bar examinations nationwide on Friday.
The Bar has been was postponed three times due to COVID-19 surges.
This is the first time the Bar examinations are being held at venues outside Metro Manila allowing examinees from the provinces to save a lot of money, he added. There are 31 remote testing sites in 22 key areas across the country.*