MANILA, Philippines –  “It is your duty to ensure that those who fail the Bar exams have a life after failing the Bar exams.”

Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno on Thursday, August 25, said she has made this appeal to the Philippine Association of Law Schools, composed of all law deans in the country. 

“Actually, so much resources are being put forth by families – families selling carabaos and lands and other possessions just so that their son or daughter could finish law school,” Sereno said in response to a question in her annual meeting with the press last Thursday.

She continued: “Do not tell me that we are not accountable for the lives of these people, whether they are going to be future paralegals, whether you are going to propose that they have limited license to perform parts of lawyering, short of appearing before the regional trial courts.”

“Go and try to exercise your minds so that you can create a way out for them. It is so expensive to put anyone through law school. We have a social duty to make sure that those resources are not wasted,” she said.

Sereno: ‘Provide options’

The Bar exams remain among the hardest tests in the Philippines.  

In the last Bar exams in November 2015, only 1,731 passed out of 6,000 examinees. 

Sereno said on Thursday: “If you fail the Bar exam, I am not automatically advising anyone to retake it. That is not fair advice. Before I can advise anyone to retake it, you have to walk through with him or her the expenses of reviewing again for another year and putting one’s life on hold.”

“What is most important is that we provide options for those who do not make it,” the Chief Justice said.

She explained, “We are responsible for every person that we get in contact with. We get them under our wings, educate them through our law schools.”

“Surely, you have a duty to ensure that he is better off after having attended your school.” – Rappler.com