LEB: Law school admission test to proceed in April

(Eagle News) — The administration of the Philippine Law School Admission Test will proceed as scheduled in April, the Legal Education Board said.

According to Emerson Aquende, chair of the LEB, the administration of the test scheduled on April 17 was not restrained by a temporary restraining order recently issued by the Supreme Court.

He said the TRO restrains only LEB Memorandum Circular No. 18, Series of 2018, “which prohibits the admission/enrollment as freshmen/1st year students in the basic law course beginning in AY 2018-2019 of those without the required PhilSAT eligibility.”

“There is no TRO as far as the administration of the PhilSAT on April 7, 2019,” he said.

According to Aquende, “in faithful compliance” with the TRO, those who have not taken the PhilSAT, those who have taken the PhilSAT but did not pass, those who have passed the PhilSAT but have expired certificates of eligibility,  college honor graduates without certificates of exemption and college honor graduates with expired exemption of certificates of exemption “may be conditionally admitted and enrolled as freshmen/1st year students in the basic law course by law schools in the incoming 1st Semester of AY 2019-2020 under the same terms as LEB Memorandum Order No. 11, Series of 2017.”

Under LEB Memorandum Order No. 11, Aquende said this was on the condition the student take the next scheduled PhilSAT in September.

“If the student fails to take the next PhilSAT for any reason, his/her conditional enrolment in the law school shall be automatically revoked and barred from enrolling in the following semester; If the student takes the next scheduled PhilSAT but scores below the passing or cut-off score , his/her conditional enrolment shall also be revoked and barred from enrolling in the next semester, unless the law school expressly admits him/her in the exercise of the discretion given under Section/Paragraph 14 of LEBMO No. 7..,” Aquende explained.

He said the “student whose conditional enrolment is subsequently revoked shall not be entitled to the reversal of school fees assessed and/or refund of the school fees paid.”

“The conditional admission/enrolment of incoming freshmen/1st year law students is the prerogative of law schools,” Aquende said.