By: Iris P. Concepcion
I had amply essayed on this blogsite the ordeals I had to undergo in taking the Bar Exams. I had flunked it in the most discomforting manner, missing just 2 points and thereabouts. Bar examinees could never see their notebooks after the exam; they would not know where they went wrong.
You must petition the Supreme Court to have your examination booklets opened. This is arduous. It is likewise pointless indirectly instructing the Highest Tribunal that it had mistakenly corrected your notebooks.
I did not bother to get re-acquianted with my law books again. They wallowed in all forms of disarray. They had been flooded and torn. I had my Joaquin Bernas' book on Constitution embedded by a poem of H. Francia on its hard cover. You can already see that I was already impassioned to brace the two facets of my learning: one rigid, the other, ethereal. This book was stolen while I was having croissant and coffee during my law review. Along with my P3,000.00 allowance during that time. This has script written all over it.
I could write a novel out of this if I can already afford an electronical notebook.
Instead, I worked, met people whom I again remet during exciting times.
I therefore welcome the recent En Banc resolution of the Highest Court of the land to finally enact the Bar Exam reform bill. The Supreme Court finally approved the proposals brought before it. It shall now adopt the MCQ (multiple choice questions) type of examination with the essay portion limited to these aspects:
1. One such essay communication shall require the candidate to prepare a trial memorandum or a decision based on a documented legal dispute. (60% of essay).
2. Another essay shall require him to prepare a written opinion sought by a client concerning a potential legal dispute facing him. (40%).
This truly makes sense. MCQ is used all over the world. This also makes the correction of papers easier since they may be done electronically. I especially applaud the essay topics. This is the better test.
If I may recall, I was asked a question in a Legal Ethics class if I am for the scrapping of the essay type or am I moving forward to the MCQ-type line of questioning. I chose the former, being the wordy woman that I am. I argued that the profession is basically a writing-driven occupation. The preparation of pleadings takes almost 80% of the practice. Hence, the subjects of essays are just but apt.
I am overeager to know what other branches of government can institute invigorating steps like this one to keep pace with worldclass standards. To quote the SC resolution:
"A third recommendation opts for maintaining the essay-type examinations but dedicating this to the assessment of the requisite communication skills, creativity and fine intellect that bar candidates need for the practice of law."
I likewise recommend Philippine Star's report on Cory Aquino's birthday. The online version was lost. Get hold of the hard copy instead.
Enjoy your country at this time. There are a lot of productive changes from within: the implementation of social benefits to institutional reforms. They are for free, you just need to welcome them. This President is no wimp nor a flashy talker. He really implements things.
Do not listen to hyper people sowing misinformation and pestilence. If you lose water or light, just wait for the alternate sources which can give you better but cheaper service. I go out and the streets have the superficial traffic clogs to infuriate you. Take the train, it is faster. Let us just wait for the implementation of more railways. That too shall come.
The markets in Albay and Mindoro now look like supermalls, with elevators and escalators. If that is a bad policy, I do not know what a good policy is.
Hence, I praise the recent SC resolution. The bar examinees can now heave a sigh of relief. The exams, moreover, shall be simultaneously held in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. It means less cost for students dreaming to improve this country's judicial system.