The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that 7,699 of the 8,295 Bar candidates have managed to finish the first Sunday of this year’s Bar’s examination held at the University of Sto. Tomas in España, Manila.
The SC Public Information Office said that 8,304 law graduates actually filed application to take the Bar exams but the tribunal denied the petitions of nine for various reasons, leaving just 8,295 who were allowed to take exams on the first Sunday of November.
However, 50 candidates opted to withdraw their applications even before the exams started.
The SC said 545 law graduates were absent during the first Sunday of the examinations, leaving just 7,700 Bar takers who took the first part of the exams, which covers Political and International Law.
However, a candidate dropped out on the second part of the exam in the afternoon that tackled Labor and Social Legislation, leaving 7,699 takers.
On Nov. 9, the second Sunday of the Bar examinations will cover Civil Law and Taxation while the third Sunday is Mercantile Law and Criminal Law. The last Sunday will cover Remedial Law and Legal and Judicial Ethics.
In the 2018 Bar examinations, 1,800 of the 8,158 examinees passed what is dubbed as the most grueling licensure examinations in the country with a graduate from Ateneo de Manila University topping the exams.
For that year’s examination, 8,701 law graduates were given permits to take the Bar but only 8,158 showed up for the first Sunday of the exam.
SC records likewise showed that of the 7,227 law graduates admitted to take the Bar in 2017, only 6,750 managed to complete the exams.
Of this, only 1,724 passed and became new lawyers or 25.5 percent of the total takers who completed the exams.
In 2016, of the 6, 831 admitted to take the Bar, only 6,454 finished the first Sunday of exam. Ten more gradually dropped out, leaving 6, 344 who completed the tests on all four Sundays.
Of this number, 3,747 managed to passed the examinations and become full-pledged lawyers.