University of San Jose -Recoletos served as one of the venues for the first-ever digital and regionalized bar examinations in the Philippines which took place on February 4 and 6 this year.
In Cebu, there are only three schools that hosted the said examination for aspiring lawyers namely USJ-R, the University of Cebu, and the University of San Carlos. A total of 31 schools in 22 local government units hosted the localized exams.
A smooth flow of systems was observed by the teams that assisted the Supreme Court(SC) in carrying out the two-day exam in Basak Campus.
Peace and order at the venue were maintained by the university guards with assistance from the Cebu City Traffic Office, Bureau of Fire Protection, Philippine National Police, Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, Special Weapon and Tactics (SWAT), Barangay Basak Pardo tanods, Adelante Life & Emergency Response Team, and Coast Guard. According to the Safety and Security Department, some examinees came in as early as 3:40 AM to queue at the registration area. The end of the queue for bar examinees extended from the second gate up to the 7-eleven store and cleared around 7:30 AM, thirty minutes before the start of the examination. While on queue, the examinees were sheltered at the covered walk from the light rain showers at dawn on the first day.
Obedience to the safety protocols was also ensured through the conduct of a screening process prior to entering the testing venue such as temperature checking and presentation of a negative antigen test. To carry this out, assistance from the Cebu City Government departments to the University Clinic were instrumental such as the Emergency Operations Center, City Health Department, and Cebu City Medical Center medical technologists. Personnel from the University Clinic were also on standby throughout the two-day affair to cater medical needs of the examinees and bar exam staff.
SSD Chief Bryan Maningo said there was no untoward incident that happened during the conduct of the exams.
USJ-R in collaboration with Converge and PLDT provided internet/wi-fi service for both examinees and Supreme Court staff. The University also supplied twenty (20) backup laptops with Examsoft software in case an examinee’s laptop fails. CCTV operation and management is also provided by the school’s IT Department so both the onsite SC team and the ones at the Supreme Court in Quezon City can watch in real-time.
IT Administrator Gregg Gabison said that all systems went well during the examinations. He added that their team had to do a lot of preparation together with two telcos because the exams fell a month after super typhoon Odette which damaged some of the internet infrastructures of the University.
Associate Justice Jose Midas Marquez visited USJ-R on the first day of the examination to see how things are running. He inspected the SC headquarters onsite as well as the classrooms together with a photographer from the SC Pubic Information Office.
Meanwhile, the USJ-R School of Law is looking forward to seeing its graduates pass the exam especially because USJ-R will celebrate its 75th founding anniversary this year.
Atty. Jonathan Capanas, dean of USJ-R School of Law, said that the new passers will be dubbed the “diamond jubilee Josenian lawyers”.
USJ-R will be celebrating its diamond jubilee anniversary on July 7, 2022.
Written by Lorraine Mitzi Ambrad
