1,289 pass the 2007 bar exams

(This was not datelined in Cotabato but we decided to reprint this one for its importance and signifcance to the bar examiness from the South-Central Mindanao region.. Dr. Mosaid)

By Tetch Torres

MANILA, Philippines -- A total of 1,289 have passed the 2007 bar examinations, the Supreme Court announced on Saturday afternoon.

Ateneo de Manila University law graduate Mercedita L. Ona topped the tests with an average score of 83.55 percent. Jennifer Ong of the University of the Philippines in Diliman followed at 83.35 percent.

A total of 5,626 law graduates from 109 law schools took the bar examinations for four consecutive Sundays in September last 2007.

The number of examinees last year is smaller than the 6,345 who took the tests in 2006.

Under the Rules of Court, a bar examinee is deemed to have passed if he obtains a general average of 75 percent in all subjects without falling below 50 percent in any subject.

The subjects and their corresponding weights are as follows: Remedial Law, 20 percent; Political and International Law, 15 percent; Mercantile Law, 15 percent; Civil Law, 15 percent; Labor and Social Legislation, 10 percent; Taxation, 10 percent; Criminal Law, 10 percent; and Legal Ethics and Practical Exercises, 5 percent.

Since 2000, the highest percentage of bar passers was seen in 2001, where the passing rate was 32.89 percent. This corresponded to 1,266 passers out of 3,849 examinees.

But the biggest number of actual passers since 2000 was recorded in 2006, when 1,893 out of 6,187 passed, or 30.60 percent of the total.

The lowest percentage of passers since 2000 was recorded in 2002, when only 19.68 percent passed.

University of the Cordilleras law graduate Noel Neil Q. Malimban topped the 2006 bar examinations with a score of 87.60 percent.

Last year, the high court began implementing the "five-strike" rule, which disqualifies five-time flunkers from taking future bar exams.

The chair of the 2007 Committee on Bar Examinations is Justice Adolf Azcuna.

(Reprinted from INQUIRER.net)