Bar exam result out within the hour

MANILA, Philippines - The result of the 2007 bar examinations will be announced by the Supreme Court within the hour. The complete list will be available on GMANews.TV upon its release by the court. The decision to release the exam results Saturday came after an en banc session of the high court Friday. According to data from the high court's Office of the Bar Confidant, 5,626 out of 5,799 law graduates from 109 law schools nationwide completed the four-Saturday examination at the De La Salle University on Taft Avenue, Manila. The first bar exam was held in 1901, with 13 examinees, while the 2008 bar examination was the 107th. The 2001 bar exam had the highest number of passers - 1,266 out of 3,849 examinees, or 32.89%, while the 2006 exam had the highest examinees - 6,187. Also, the 2003 bar exam was marred by controversy when the Court ordered a retake of the Mercantile law due to alleged questionnaire leakage. A bar candidate must meet the following academic qualifications to take the exam: * Holder of a professional degree in law from a recognized law school in the Philippines * Holder of a bachelor's degree with academic credits in certain required subjects from a recognized college or university in the Philippines or abroad * He should also meet certain non-academic requisites: * A Filipino citizen * At least 21 years of age * A resident of the Philippines * Satisfactory evidence of good moral character * No charges involving moral turpitude have been filed against the candidate or are pending in any court in the Philippines Candidates who meet all the admission requirements usually enroll in special review classes after graduating from law school. These programs are held from April to September in law schools, colleges, universities, and review centers. Program schedule, content, and delivery differ from one review program to another. Lecturers in these programs are called bar reviewers. They are usually full-time professors and part-time professorial lecturers in law schools and universities. Most review programs invite incumbent and retired justices and high ranking public officials both as a marketing tool and as a program innovation. The examinations are held during the four Sundays of September of every year in the campus of De La Salle University-Manila in Taft Avenue, Manila. The Supreme Court appoints members in the Committee of Bar Examiners, the official task force for formulating bar exam questions, instituting policy directives, executing procedures, grading bar examination papers, and releasing the results of the annual bar examination. The committee is chaired by an incumbent Justice of the Supreme Court, who is designated by the Supreme Court to serve for a term of one year. The members of the committee includes eight members of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, who also hold office for a term of one year. While the Justice who shall act as chairman is immediately known, committee members must exert every effort to conceal their identities until the oath-taking of the successful bar examinees, approximately six months after the bar exam. - GMANews.TV with some data from wikipedia