Manila prepares for bar exams; seeks ban of naked runners
The Manila City government has asked bars, restaurants and fast-food
chain owners along Taft Avenue to refrain from engaging in
“distractive activities” during the conduct of the bar
examinations during the four Sundays of September. Likewise, the
traditional “Oblation Run” being conducted on the last Sunday of
the bar exams will be prohibited.
Lawyer Rafaelito Garayblas, secretary to Mayor
Alfredo Lim of Manila, wrote a letter to owners and operators of all
restaurants, eateries, boarding houses and concerned business
establishments along Taft Avenue to disallow “groups, fraternities
and those involved in the bar operations from holding activities and
gatherings, partying, playing loud music and engaging in drinking
sprees in front of establishments or parking spaces.”
Garayblas was responding to the letter of
Supreme Court Deputy Clerk of Court and Bar Confidant Ma. Cristina
Layusa to Lim.
“Likewise, for the past years, the portion of
Taft Avenue, particularly the stretch of Quirino to Vito Cruz, has
been closed to traffic, per approval of the MMDA [Metro Manila
Development Authority]. Despite this, its southbound area,
specifically fronting McDonald’s Taft under the LRT [Light Rail
Transit] station, has always been utilized by school groups and
fraternities as send-off sites for bar examinees,” Layusa told the
Mayor.
The mayor’s secretary said the business
permits of establishments violating the city’s directive would be
revoked.
Layusa recalls that school groups and
fraternities often put up tents and park vans and trucks in the area
obstructing the De La Salle University gates, which delays the entry
of bar examinees and court and bar personnel.
She also sought Lim’s help to stop the
“Oblation Run” being conducted by the Alpha Phil Omega
fraternity every last Sunday of the bar examinations.
“We have received numerous complaints not only
from the bar examinees but also from their parents and guests as
regards [to] the unnecessary noise and obscenity of the said
oblation run,” she added.
