The validity of the Legal Education Board (LEB), primarily in its capacity in administering the Philippine Law School Admission Test (PhilSAT), went under scrutiny by oral argument before the Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday, March 5, during the oral arguments where different petitions sought to invalidate the PhilSAT and the board.
The PhiLSAT is a standardized test designed to measure academic potential of an applicant to pursue the study of law. Provided under RA 7662, otherwise known as the Legal Education Reform Act of 1993, it gave life to the LEB and to prescribe the minimum standards for admission to law.
The oral argument was set on two petitions; filed by retired Makati RTC Judge Oscar Pimentel, and a group of law students and some academic institutions. They questioned the constitutionality of RA 7662 which interferes to the function tasked to the Supreme Court in improving the quality of the bar and the bench.
Associate Justice Leonen noted that the Congress cannot tell the SC how it is going to admit people to the Bar and how it may infringe on academic freedom.
Listen to the four-hour oral arguments below: