At least seven of the country’s 105 law schools are on the chopping block for consistently failing to produce bar examination passers in the past ten years, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) said Wednesday.
SCHOOLS THAT HAVE PRODUCED BAR TOPNOTCHERS (1ST PLACERS): • University of the Philippines College of Law, 49 • Ateneo de Manila Law School, 19 • Philippine Law School - 7 • University of Manila - 6 • San Beda College of Law - 6 • Far Eastern University Institute of Law - 3 • University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Civil Law - 3 • University of the Cordilleras (formerly Baguio Colleges Foundation) College of Law - 2 • Manila Law College Foundation (formerly Escuela de Derecho de Manila) - 1 • Manuel L. Quezon University College of Law, 1 • Divine Word College, 1 • University of the East College of Law , 1 • San Sebastian College Institute of Law, 1 According to Wikipedia, two bar examinees topped the bar exams without graduating from any Philippine law school: These are Jose Diokno - former senator of the Philippines, who topped the 1945 bar exams, and Carolina C. Griño-Aquino, former associate justice of the Supreme Court, who topped the 1950 bar exams. Under current rules, non-law school graduates are no longer allowed to take the Philippine bar exams. Source: Wikipedia CHED chairman Emmanuel Angeles identified these schools as the Abra Valley College in Bangued, Abra; Polytechnic College of La Union in Agoo, La Union; Ramon Magsaysay Technological University in Iba, Zambales; East Central Colleges in San Fernando, Pampanga; Southern Bicol College in Masbate; Eastern Samar State University in Borongan, Eastern Samar; and Samar College in Catbalogan, Western Samar. Angeles said the seven schools were identified in a study by the commission on the law programs of various schools based on data from the Supreme Court from 1999 to 2009. “These law schools that have been getting zero percent will be advised to shut down their law programs," Angeles told reporters. In fact, he said, four other non-performing law schools have voluntarily phased out their law programs. He identified them as the Virgen De Los Remedios College in Olongapo City, Manuel A. Roxas Educational Institution, International Harvardian University in Davao City, and the Zamboanga A.E. College in Zamboanga City. Lolita Lusanta of Southern Bicol College said they should not be included since the law school opened only in 2003, short of the 10-year period covered by the study. For Ramon Magsaysay Technological University, Prof. Cornelio Garcia, executive vice president, indicated that the university's Board of Regents might phase out the law school and turn it into a training center since they don't have full-time students. GMANews.TV tried but failed to get the side of the other schools mentioned by Angeles. Angeles said the commission will start closing the non-performing law schools next year and will also run after other poor performers, especially those with a passing rate of less than five percent in the bar exams for the past 10 years. “We will be forced to close down law schools that fail to comply with CHED standards," he said. “We have to act now in order to put our education system in the proper standard and improve the competencies of our graduates and professionals so that we can compete in the global arena starting with how we produce our law graduates," Angeles said.
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