2,103 aspiring lawyers pass 2019 Bar exams

More than 2,000 new lawyers will join the Philippine bar, the Supreme Court announced Wednesday.

A total of 2,103 candidates passed the 2019 Bar examinations, representing 27.36% of the 7,685 examinees who completed the licensure test last November, Senior Associate Justice Estela Perlas-Bernabe, the 2019 Bar chair, said.

#Bar2019 Chairperson Senior Associate Justice Estela M. Perlas-Bernabe delivers her message https://t.co/3zNgXX8IBf. 2,103 out of 7,685 examinees (27.36%) who completed #BernaBar2019 passed. Actual results will be uploaded soon to the SC website.

— Supreme Court Public Information Office (PIO) (@SCPh_PIO) April 29, 2020

For complete list of passers, click here.

Mae Diane Azores of the University of Santo Tomas-Legazpi, formerly Aquinas University, was the topnotcher with a rating of 91.0490%.

Traditionally displayed on a large screen at the SC's grounds in Manila to a crowd of candidates and their families and friends, the Bar exam results were posted online this year amid prevailing quarantine and social distancing measures due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

The passing rate is higher than the previous year's. In the 2018 Bar exam, 1,800, or 22.07% of the 8,155 candidates passed.

In a video message, Bernabe said the passing grade of 75% was lowered to 74% "in light of, among other considerations, the discerned need for more younger and technologically adept lawyers to help different fronts of society as we meet the peculiar challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and transition to the new normal."

The Bar exams cover political law, international law, labor law and social legislation, civil law, taxation law, mercantile law, criminal law, remedial law, and legal and judicial ethics and practical exercises.

The Bar chair congratulated the passers, telling them that society calls on them "to not only become learned experts but more so to fight for the cause of the oppressed, to advance the pleas of the helpless, and to inspire others as a living example of integrity above all." 

Statistics, examiners

The SC Public Information Office (PIO) said 8,245 applicants were admitted to take the Bar exams, but only 7,685 examinees showed up to all four Sundays of the tests held at UST Manila.

Of the 7,700 who took the exam for at least one Sunday, 3,735 were new candidates and 3,965 were "repeaters," or those who had previously taken the Bar exams at least once, the PIO said.

There were two examiners for each of the eight subjects, and they are the following:

• Dean Sedfrey M. Candelaria and former Commissioner Rene V. Sarmiento for political law and public international law;
• Dean Salvador A. Poquiz and Justice Arturo D. Brion for labor law and social legislation;
• Justice Priscilla J. Baltazar-Padilla and Dean Cynthia R. Del Castillo for civil law;
• Justice Japar Dimaampao and Atty. Lily K. Gruba for taxation;
• Justice Maria Rowena G. Modesto-San Pedro and Atty. Francisco ED. Lim for mercantile law;
• Judge Selma P. Alaras and Justice Apolinario D. Bruselas, Jr. for criminal law;
• Justice Maria Filomena D. Singh and Assistant Solicitor General Marissa Macaraig-Guillen for remedial law; and
• Justice Maria Theresa V. Mendoza-Arcega and Commissioner Pablo C. Espiritu for legal ethics and practical exercises.

--KBK/RSJ, GMA News