A law graduate from the University of Santo Tomas-Legazpi City topped the 2019 Bar Exams with a rating of 91.0490 percent.
Mae Diane Azores of UST Legazpi—formerly of Aquinas University—received the highest rating among the 2,103 candidates who passed the exams last year, the Supreme Court announced.
The result stunned the legal community following the failure of the Bar takers from the University of the Philippines and the Ateneo Law School to make it to the top.
None of the law graduates from the UP-College of Law and the Ateneo Law School made it to the top 10 last year.
The examinees who also obtained the highest ratings were Princess Fatima Parahiman, a graduate of the University of the East who placed second with 89.5230 percent, and Myra Baranda, also of UST-Legazpi, who landed third with a score of 88.8250 percent.
In fourth place was Dawna Fya Bandiola of San Beda College Alabang with 88.3360 percent, while Jocelyn Fabello of Palawan State University took fifth with 88.2630 percent.
With a rating of 88.173 percent, Kenneth Glenn Manuel of the University of Santo Tomas placed sixth, while Rhowee Buergo of Jose Rizal University landed seventh with 87.8710 percent.
Anton Luis Avila of Saint Louis University took eighth place with 87.5820 percent, followed by Jun Dexter Rojas of Polytechnic University of the Philippines with 87.5765 percent and Bebelan Madera of the University of St. La Salle with 87.3795 percent, the two who landed ninth and 10th, respectively.
READ: 7 women in top 10 of Bar Exam: 2,103 new lawyers
2020 Bar Exams postponed
The Supreme Court said Wednesday it decided to postpone the 2020 Bar Examinations due to the "social and economic disruption" of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Associate Justice Marvic Leonen said the new schedule of the test will be announced in June, adding it would "definitely be held" next year.
“This is to give the court ample time to determine the necessary adjustments and to make adequate preparations for the safe and orderly conduct of the examinations," he said.
Leonen said the high court also approved his proposal for the exams to be held in Manila and in Cebu.
The Bar exams were usually held at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila during four Sundays of November.
‘Always dream bigger’
No dream is ever too big for Mae Diane Azores, who studied for 10 to 12 hours straight to pass the 2019 Bar Exams.
Azores, a graduate of the University of Santo Tomas-Legazpi, said she disconnected from social media and prayed the rosary before the release of the exam results.
When she returned online, Azores found she led the 2,103 passers. The certified public accountant, who works as a state auditor, had gotten a score of 91.049 percent.
"No dream is ever big, especially for provincial schools. If we really put our minds to it, we can do it. Just trust God and pray,” Azores told ABS-CBN News.
In an interview with DZMM radio, Azores said she woke up at 4 a.m. and studied for 10 to 12 hours straight to prepare for the tough exams.
"Before the review began, there were some who said I could be a topnotcher, so I should do a good job. I used that pressure as a motivation, thinking I could achieve it,” Azores said.
Flunker places fourth
A law graduate who failed the Bar Exams in 2018 placed fourth in her second try last year-an achievement she attributed Wednesday to a divine plan and to right timing.
Dawna Fya Bandiola of San Beda College-Alabang said when she flunked the exams on her first try, she told herself, "Perhaps it was not yet the right time. It was not yet in the Lord's will to give me what I was praying for.
“You won't be given everything you want when you want it. There are times you need to experience rejection so you can give more importance to the things you disregard.”
Bandiola scored 88.336 percent on her second try in the Bar Exams last November, landing her in fourth place.
“I just thought that it was about timing. I just left everything to the Lord, let Him take care of everything,” Bandiola said.