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BY AYIN DREAM D. APLASCA
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A FEW DAYS ago (even until now), a lot of aspiring lawyers feel a little bit disconcerted after Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson of the Presidential Communications Operations Office announced she was going to law school. Her future law classmates were surprised by her decision.
Other students were fussing about the special treatment that would be given to her. Others doubted if she could survive law school. Others wished her to succeed in law school and for her to see the reality through the rule of law. Mixed reactions.
Aspiring lawyers assumed she was on conditional enrollment because she still needed to pass the Philippine Law School Admission Test (PhiLSAT) in 2018 to continue her schooling at Arellano School of Law. This is now the issue.
What is PhiLSAT?
It is a standardized battery of aptitude tests designed to measure academic potential to pursue the study of law. Under Republic Act No. 7662 or the “Legal Education Reform Act of 1993” the Legal Education Board (LEB) has the power to prescribe the minimum standards for law admission. Thus, the LEB issued LEB Memorandum Order No. 7 Series of 2016 requiring PhiLSAT as a prerequisite for admission to the basic law courses leading either a Bachelor of Laws or Juris Doctor degree. It began this school year 2017-2018.
Of course, there are exemptions from taking the exam. To qualify for exemption, a student must possess a completed bachelor’s degree with graduation honors and awarded with professional civil service eligibility as an honor graduate pursuant to Presidential Decree No. 907.
The exemption period is only valid for two academic years after graduation from college. There are also other requirements to be submitted and these may be downloaded from theLEB official website. Once all of these are submitted then the LEB Chairman shall approve all applications that meet the requirements of LEBMO No. 7.
However, there are aspiring lawyers not familiar with this. Thus, the LEB issued Memorandum No. 11 which allows aspiring lawyers to avail themselves the conditional admission and enrolment. It is provided that they should take the next schedule PhilSAT exam.
If he or she fails to take the exam or received a failing score, the condition is revoked. In the latter case, the law school has the discretion to admit the student with accompanying deliberation conditions. The student shall execute under oath, and file with his or her application for a Permit for Conditional Admission or Enrolment, an undertaking expressly agreeing to the conditions imposed on him or her.
In the case of Asec. Uson, others say she may be admitted conditionally. However, the requirements in that case only apply when the student applied to take the PhiLSAT but failed to take the exam or failed the exam itself. The conditions also apply only on the first semester of school year 2017-2018. Asec. Uson was not able to secure either of the two.
So how come she will attend Arellano University this January? Sit in? No pun intended.
We are all curious.
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(Atty. Ayin Dream D. Aplasca practices her profession in Iloilo City. She may be reached thru ayindream.aplasca@gmail.com/PN)
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