7,227 law students take bar exams at UST

Law graduates arrive at University of Santo Tomas in Manila on Sunday, to take the bar exam.
INQUIRER PHOTO / NINO JESUS ORBETA

A total of 7,227 law graduates trooped to the University of Santo Tomas (UST) on Sunday to take the bar exams, regarded as one of the most difficult professional licensure examinations.

According to the public information office of the Supreme Court, this year’s number of examinees was the highest since 2014 and eclipsed the 6,344 lawyer-candidates a year ago.

Citing data from the Office of the Bar Confidant, it said a total of 7,270 submitted their applications, but 13 were turned down for varied reasons while 30 others backed out.

The tribunal had designated Associate Justice Lucas Bersamin as chair of the 2017 bar exams and Ma. Cristina B. Layusa as bar confidant.

In 2016, a total of 3,747 law graduates passed the bar exams, which are usually held during all four Sundays of November.

Last year’s passing rate of 59.06 percent was the highest since the high court imposed a 75-percent passing grade and the second highest after the 75.17 passing rate in 1954, which had a lower passing mark.

The 2016 bar exams also marked the first time that none of the known law schools in Metro Manila, such as the University of the Philippines and Ateneo de Manila University, landed in the top spot of bar passers.

Bar topnotcher Karen Mae Calam of the University of San Carlos in Cebu City was joined by three of her schoolmates in the Top 10, which was dominated by graduates of law schools from the Visayas and Mindanao.

As stipulated under Rule 138, Section 9 of the Rules of Court, the bar exams cover subjects on political law and public international law, labor and social legislation, civil law, taxation, mercantile law, criminal law, remedial law, and legal and judicial ethics. —MARLON RAMOS