(Eagle News)–Cebu City has been designated a regional site for the next bar examinations.
The Supreme Court en banc made the announcement in a notice issued on April 29, and posted on its Twitter account on Thursday, Aug. 13.
The notice was signed by Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta and all other 14 justices, including Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, who is the chair for the next bar examinations.
No specific site in Cebu has, however, been picked yet.
The notice said a visit to the city will be scheduled once restrictions on domestic travel have been lifted.
With the decision to regionalize the bar exams , law graduates from Visayas and Mindanao now have the option to take the same in Cebu, instead of in Manila.
The SC has said the 2020 bar exams, which were supposed to take place in November this year, would be held next year instead amid the COVID-19 pandemic
The SC said the guidelines for applications for those who wish to take the exams in Cebu City shall be announced in another bar bulletin.
In 2011, the Talisay and Mandaue city councils requested for the exams for those in Visayas and Mindanao to be held in Cebu City.
In 2016, the SC agreed to the proposal of then-Court of Appeals Justice Portia Hormachuelos provided there were at least 1000 bar candidates in the regional site.
The conduct of the exams in Cebu City was subsequently disallowed, however, after less than 1000 expressed interest in taking the bar there.
