Supreme Court temporarily stops PhilSAT requirement for law students

The Supreme Court (SC) has temporarily stopped the requirement for aspiring law students to pass a nationwide law school entrance exam before being admitted into law schools.

Two sources confirmed to GMA News Online on Saturday that the Court has issued a temporary restraining order enjoining the Legal Education Board (LEB) from implementing its memorandum order preventing law schools from enrolling students who failed the Philippine Law School Admission Test (PhilSAT).

The SC Public Information Office confirmed the development on Monday, releasing a notice of resolution containing the TRO.

Two consolidated petitions challenging the constitutionality of the law that created the LEB, which in turn imposed the PhilSAT requirement, are pending before the High Court.

LEB Memorandum No. 7 says an aspiring law student cannot be admitted into a law school unless he or she passed the PhilSAT.

The TRO enjoins the authorities from implementing LEB Memorandum Circular No. 18, dated June 8, 2018, which bars law schools from conditionally admitting freshman law students.

“Those who have not taken the PhilSAT prior to the beginning of Academic Year 2018 to 2019, or who have taken the PhilSAT but did not pass, or are honor graduates in college with no PhilSAT Exemption Certificate, or honor graduates with expired PhilSAT Exemption Certificates may now be allowed to conditionally enroll as incoming freshmen law students under the same terms as LEB Memorandum Order No. 11, series of 2017,” the order reads.

"Admission requirements basically to be determined by the respective law schools while case is pending," one of the sources said.

During oral arguments earlier this month, the petitioners suggested it should be the SC—not the LEB, which they said was created by an unconstitutional law—that should administer any law school admission test. —KG, GMA News