A total of 8,710 examinees will try to hurdle the 2018 Bar Examinations on four Sundays of November, the Supreme Court, through the Office of the Bar Confidant, yesterday announced.

The bar exams which will be held at the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas (UST) on España, Manila will be on the 4th, 11th, 18th and 25th of November.

According to the SC, the total number of examinees is the biggest so far in recent years. The 2018 Bar Examinations Committee chairman is SC Associate Justice Mariano C. Del Castillo.

A contingency plan for the bar exams in case of heavy rains and flooding was laid down by Deputy Clerk of Court and Bar Confidant Ma. Cristina B. Layusa.

Ten SC buses shall be available to transport examinees and duty personnel to the UST from several pick-up points in case of heavy rains in the morning of the bar exam days.

The buses shall be stationed as early as 4:30 a.m. and will leave exactly at 5 a.m. from the following areas: Quezon City Memorial Circle near Philippine Coconut Authority (two buses); Park and Ride, Lawton, Manila (one bus); SC New Building Compound, Taft Avenue (two buses); Greenbelt and Glorietta, Ayala Center, Makati (two buses) and Marikina Sports Complex (one bus).

Only bar examinees and duty personnel will be allowed to ride the shuttle buses and boarding shall be on a first-come, first-served basis.

To avail themselves of the service, they must present their Notice of Admission, Gate Pass and identification cards, as the case may be, to the bus driver before being allowed to board.

In case of flooding inside the UST compound before the start of the exams, commuter vans of the SC shall also be available to transport examinees and duty personnel from the UST gates to their respective examination buildings.

Senior citizens, pregnant women, and persons with disability shall be prioritized in the use of the commuter vans.

If after the end of the exams there is flooding, the SC commuter vans shall also be available at each examination building to transport bar examinees and duty personnel back to Osmeña and Arellano Drives near Gate 5 along España where the SC shuttle buses are parked.

The SC shuttle buses will transport and drop them off in the following areas: northbound passengers shall be transported up to QC Memorial Circle (near Philippine Coconut Authority) while southbound passengers at Park and Ride, Lawton, Supreme Court premises and at the EDSA Magallanes Flyover (beneath the flyover) in Pasay.