THE Davao City Police Office (DCPO) wrapped up its three-day security operation for the 2026 Bar Examinations in Davao City, reporting that the exams proceeded safely without major security incidents.
The exams were held at the Ateneo de Davao University–Senior High School Campus in Bangkal, where about 1,000 examinees from across Mindanao took the tests.
On the final examination day Sept. 13, the DCPO deployed 222 security personnel around the testing site and its entry points.
The deployment included personnel from the Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Canine Unit, Traffic Enforcement Unit, Special Weapons and Tactics, Bureau of Fire Protection, City Transport and Traffic Management Office, and other partner agencies.
DCPO City Director Police Col. Peter Bauzon Madria led the security operation, assisted by Police Maj. Sheryl Y. Bautista, commander of Police Station 3-Talomo, and Police Maj. Antonio C. Perona Jr., officer-in-charge of the 2nd City Mobile Force Company.
Madria said the DCPO placed the safety of examinees first while protecting the integrity of the national examinations.
The Supreme Court administered the 2026 Bar Examinations on Sept. 6, 9 and 13 at designated local testing centers nationwide.
The Court reported that 12,029 candidates took the first-day examinations, the highest first-day turnout in Bar history. A total of 14,291 applicants initially registered for this year’s exams.
This year’s Bar was also the first to follow the codified framework under the 2025 amendments to Rule 138 of the Rules of Court. The Court administered the exams electronically through its prescribed digital platform.
The three-day tests covered Political and Public International Law and Commercial and Taxation Laws on the first day; Civil Law and Land Titles and Deeds, and Labor Law and Social Legislation on the second; and Criminal Law, Remedial Law, Legal and Judicial Ethics, and Practical Exercises on the final day.
As of Sept. 14, the Supreme Court had yet to announce the official results of the 2026 Bar Examinations. DEF
