Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel H. Gaerlan, chairperson of the 2026 Bar Examinations, said Sunday that preparations had been made for possible bad weather as the nationwide examinations got underway.

Gaerlan visited one of the local testing centers early Sunday morning to inspect preparations for the examinations.

“We anticipated bad weather, considering that for the past month, we experienced bad weather,” Gaerlan said.

He added that organizers also turned to prayer amid concerns over the weather.

“What we did first, of course, is to pray and go further to heaven with our prayers. And God was kind enough to us, to give us good weather today,” Gaerlan said.

He noted that the weather was sunny as the examinations began.

The 2026 Bar Examinations are being administered on 6, 9 and 13 September at testing centers nationwide. The Supreme Court said 14,291 applicants registered for this year’s examinations, the highest number in Bar history.

The first-day examinations cover Political and Public International Law in the morning and Commercial and Taxation Laws in the afternoon.

On 9 September, examinees will take Civil Law and Land Titles and Deeds in the morning and Labor Law and Social Legislation in the afternoon.

The final day on 13 September will cover Criminal Law in the morning and Remedial Law, Legal and Judicial Ethics, with Practical Exercises in the afternoon.

The examinations are being conducted digitally at 15 designated testing centers, including seven in the National Capital Region, three in Luzon, three in the Visayas and two in Mindanao.