4 of bar exam Top 10 are from UP, including No. 1

NEW LAWYERS There are always two success stories in every bar exam triumph— the second is that of parents. (See story on the 2024 results on Page A4) —RICHARD A. REYES

Kyle Christian Tutor of the University of the Philippines (UP) topped the 2024 bar exam, with three other graduates from the state university also making it to the Top 10.

Tutor, who finished political science also at UP before taking up law, led the 3,962 passers with a score of 85.77 percent.

READ: LIVE UPDATES: Bar exam results 2024

He was followed by Maria Cristina Aniceto of the Ateneo de Manila University (85.54); Gerald Roxas of Angeles University Foundation (84.3); and John Philippe Chua and Jet Nicolas, both of UP (84.28 and 84.27, respectively).

Completing the Top 10 are Maria Lovelyn Joyce Quebrar of UP; Kyle Isaguirre of Ateneo; Joji Macadine of the University of Mindanao; Greogorio Torres of the Western Mindanao State University; and Raya Villacorta of San Beda University.

The next highest scorers who would complete the Top 20 are Paolo Antonio Gerpacio of Ateneo; Andrea Ambray of the University of Santo Tomas (UST); Marielle Macarilay of Ateneo; John Daniel Hamoy of the University of San Carlos; Therese Garcia of Ateneo; Recel Elumba of Jose Rizal Memorial State University; Rieland Cuevas of UP; Betlee-Kyle Barraquias of Ateneo; Steve Barredo of the University of St. La Salle; and Pierre Reque of UST and Kenneth Lijauco of UP (who both placed 20th).

The last time a UP law graduate topped the bar exams was in 2022, when Czar Matthew Gerard Torres Dayday scored 88.8 percent.

Foundation scholars

Tutor and sixth placer Quebrar are both scholars of the Foundation for Liberty and Prosperity (FLP), which was established in 2011 with retired Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban as founding chair.

The foundation has sent deserving students to law school since 2017, with each batch producing high-ranking bar passers.

Applicants to the FLP scholarship go through a rigorous selection process headed by Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo.

Tutor, a cum laude graduate who has worked in the Office of the Solicitor General as a legal assistant, said he would like to become an “abogado para sa bayan (lawyer for the people).”

Quebrar, who also graduated cum laude, is currently an associate at the Quisumbing Torres Law Office.

Kyle Christian Tutor —SUPREME COURT OF THE PHILIPPINES PHOTO

A working student supporting her family, she said she was “proud to have achieved everything through hard work and prayers.”

In a message, Panganiban, who is also an Inquirer columnist, said he was “extremely happy” that the new lawyers had “kept the tradition of excellence starting with [Sean James] Borja.”
He was referring to the 2018 bar topnotcher, who was among FLP’s first batch of scholars.

More for the provinces

Only 37.84 percent of the examinees—or 3,962 out of more than 10,000 takers—passed the bar this year, the Supreme Court said as it announced the results on Friday.

In 2020, the tribunal lowered the passing grade from 75 to 74 percent.

Associate Justice Mario Lopez, this year’s bar chair, said the high court had decided to lower the passing grade because it wanted more lawyers especially in the provinces.

“Not in Metro Manila because I believe in Metro Manila we have enough. But in the provinces we may not have enough lawyers,” he said at a press conference.

“And at this time, I wish my most valuable lawyers will also be [de]congested from Metro Manila and serve the people there in the rural areas,” Lopez added. —WITH A REPORT FROM YASMIN LEE ARPON INQ