Manila Adventist College, which has the only Adventist law school with a Juris Doctor program in the world, has been chosen by the Philippine Supreme Court as one of the 29 local testing centers that conducted the 2020/2021 bar examinations, the first digital and localized test for aspiring lawyers in the Philippines, on February 4 and February 6, 2022.

Despite being new in the industry, the three-year-old law school was allowed to be one of the local testing centers for the bar examination. Manila Adventist College grabbed the chance to showcase its capabilities and academic training.

“We didn’t apply to be one of the testing centers, but they [the Supreme Court] asked if we were interested. We manifested our desire and interest to be one of the schools hosting the first-ever digital and localized bar examination,” Tranquil Salvador III, dean of the School of Law and Jurisprudence at the school, said.

“By God’s grace, I believe that the Supreme Court deemed our school to be ready and equipped technically in facilitating the bar exams. Our school is big and conducive to accommodating 450 law aspirants. I would say that we were chosen as a local testing center for the 2020-2021 bar examinations through God’s providence,” Salvador added.

Manila Adventist College in Pasay City, Philippines, hosted 395 aspiring lawyers in the 450 slots designated by the Supreme Court. The two-day bar examination started Friday, February 4, and concluded on Sunday, February 6.

Despite having the examination date fall on a Friday, the Manila Adventist College administrators and the Philippine Supreme Court agreed to adjust the afternoon examination, so that it was dismissed 10 minutes before sunset to respect to the school’s religious belief of keeping the Saturday Sabbath.

The Philippine Supreme Court issued Bar Bulletin 23 providing the initial 24 listings of testing centers. These centers were carefully chosen according to whether they can perform and meet requirements in conducting a digital-sound and localized bar examination.

According to the Supreme Court, 11,378 graduates registered to take the 2020-2021 online bar examinations. This increase in the number of examinees is due to the postponement of the 2020 bar examinations due to the coronavirus pandemic.

School of Law and Jurisprudence faculty members said they were delighted for their school to be named as one of the testing centers for the 2020-2021 bar examinations and made the necessary preparations for this event.

This opens avenues for the Adventist law school to be seen in the ranks of schools in the Philippines that offer high-quality education in producing competent lawyers, school leaders said. As stated in the college’s mission, Manila Adventist College law school stands firm as “an institution dedicated to equipping individuals to become committed champions of the law, teaching them to live up the supreme ideals of humanity and in the fear of God that each may carry on the culture of excellence in providing specialized legal services. We shall advance respect for the rule of law, attainment of justice, protection of human rights and the environment and render selfless service to those who need it.” 

“We pray that our school brings a holistic individual growth to our students not only in achieving their goals as future competent lawyers of the society but, produce God-fearing, morally upright individuals who represent man and God,” Salvador said.

The original version of this story was posted on the Southern Asia-Pacific Division news site.