Cebu City—The number of law graduates in the Visayas and Mindanao who want to take the bar examinations in Cebu City failed to reach the minimum 1,000 set by the Supreme Court.
But Portia Hormachuelos, retired Court of Appeals justice and University of the Visayas Law School dean, said the 514 graduates who have so far expressed preference to take the bar exams in Cebu City is enough to make the city a pilot venue for the regionalization of the exam.
“The law deans feel that this number is sufficient to serve as test on whether or not the holding of bar exam in Cebu City is feasible,” Hormachuelos said.
The 2016 bar exam committee of the Supreme Court agreed to hold the exam in Cebu if there are at least 1,000 takers.
The high tribunal came up with the requirement to compensate for the expenses on logistics, effort, and coordination that will be required in administering the exam outside Manila.
The University of Cebu has offered to host the exam for free.
In December 2013, the Supreme Court issued a resolution heeding the recommendation of the Office of the Bar Confidant to allow the bar exam committee to look into the proposal of the Cebu City Council to hold the exam outside Manila for the benefit of barristers in the provinces.