All set for today’s Bar exams

The Manila Police District said security measures are in place for today’s Bar examinations to be held at the University of Santo Tomas (UST).

Apart from instituting random checkpoints and bag inspections around the perimeter of UST campus, a city ordinance banning the sale of liquor in the vicinity of the school will be strictly implemented.

As this developed, Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso called on all law students taking the Bar to keep the proceedings peaceful and orderly.

Having taken up law himself, the mayor said he is aware that some students engage in Bar operations, or Bar ops, and may get emotional causing them to act rather recklessly.

Bar ops are undertaken by law students who send off the examinees in a festive, sometimes even lavish fashion. It is also an occasion where the aspiring lawyers are provided with various forms of assistance by their classmates, friends, relatives and their school.

The Bar exams was transferred to UST from De La Salle University along Taft Avenue after an explosion marred the event, which injured many. Some fraternities were also known to have engaged in riots in the past.

“There is no need for violence or harm,” the mayor said. “You can show your support for the examinees in a cheerful manner.”

A total of 8,245 candidates are expected to take the Bar exams, which will be held on all Sundays of November.