THE SUPREME Court (SC) on Tuesday said it implemented an expanded and regionalized administration of the Arabic language test for the 2026 Shari’ah Special Bar Examinations (SSBE), an innovation aimed at making the examinations more accessible to Muslim Filipino communities.

SC Associate Justice Henri Jean Paul Inting, chairperson of the 2026 SSBE, announced this milestone during the welcome breakfast on May 24, the first of the two-day SSBE, held at the Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT) in Iligan City.

A total of 800 aspirants simultaneously took the 2026 SSBE across four local testing centers: New Era University (NEU) in Quezon City, with 84 examinees; Ateneo de Davao University, with 164; Ateneo de Zamboanga University (AdZU), with 72; and MSU-IIT, with 480.

The SC employed a digitalized and localized approach for this year’s test, building on the success of the same system in previous years. Of the total examinees, 45 took the examinations in Arabic, while the remaining 755 took them in English.

In the past, examinees who chose to take the test in Arabic were assigned to only a limited testing center.

As the number of Arabic-proficient examinees grew, the SC introduced a more localized and regionalized system to make the examinations easier to access.

“This innovation reflects a deeper institutional commitment to inclusivity and accessibility. By bringing the examinations closer to the examinees, the Court helps reduce financial burdens, travel difficulties, logistical challenges, and unnecessary stress that many applicants previously experienced,” Inting said.

Inting also reminded the examinees to approach the examinations with sincerity and faith, uphold integrity, continue learning, and remember that the practice of Shari’ah must remain rooted in humanity.

“The true measure of a Shari’ah counselor-at-law is not intellect or eloquence, but the ethical stewardship of knowledge in service to others,” he said.

He added Shari’ah Bar examinations advance the SC’s commitment to accessibility, inclusivity, efficiency, and responsiveness of the SSBE for Muslim Filipinos under the Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations 2022-2027. (PNA)