THE Supreme Court on Thursday announced that 1,724 law graduates passed the 2017 Bar examinations, with Mark John H. Simondo of the University of St. La Salle in Bacolod City topping the tests with a rating of 91.05 percent.
Simondo vowed to contribute to the upholding of the rule of law, saying he took up law to evade going abroad because he believed the Philippines was where he should be.
Associate Justice Lucas Bersamin, chairman of the high court’s 2017 Bar committee, said the successful examinees constituted 25.55 percent of the 6,748 takers who completed the exams in November last year.
This batch had the most number of examinees in the 116-year history of the Bar exams, which are considered the toughest in the country. But it has the lowest passing rate in the last three Bar exams.
For the second consecutive year, barristers from the provincial law schools dominated the top 10 of the Bar examinations.
In a phone interview, Simondo said being a lawyer was coincidental.
“I took up law because I did not want to go abroad,” he said.
“My parents were pressuring me to go abroad. I felt that the Philippines is where I should be. I needed a job that would justify my stay here.”
Simondo said he would have wanted to pursue corporate law practice, but since such field was limited in his hometown, he was considering joining the government.
“Yesterday, I made a promise to God that if I passed the exams, I would do my utmost to promote justice in this country,” Simondo said.
“At the end of the day, we are still a nation of law and not a nation of men. The rule of law should prevail. I would see to it that I did my part in upholding the rule of law.”
Simondo was followed by three other provincial law graduates: Christians Mae Balili, of the University of San Carlos in Cebu, in second place with an average of 90.80 percent; Camille Remoroza of the Ateneo De Davao University, in third place with 90.70 percent; and fourth place Ivanne D’laureil Hisoler, also from the University of San Carlos with 89.55 percent.
Another University of San Carlos graduate, Rheland Servacio, placed seventh with 89 percent, while Krizza Fe Alcantara-Bagni of St. Mary’s University in Nueva Vizcaya, placed eighth with 88.90 percent.
Last year, Karen Mae Calam of the University of San Carlos law school in Cebu City topped the Bar exams with an average of 89.05 percent.
For Metro Manila universities, three graduates of the University of Santo Tomas law school and two from San Beda University-Manila made it to this batch’s Top 10.
From San Beda College-Manila were fifth placer Monica Anne Yap with a rating of 89.45 percent and eighth placer (tied) Algie Kwillon B. Mariacos, with a rating of 89.9 percent.
From UST were sixth placer Lorenzo Luigi Gayya with 89.1 percent; ninth placer Klinton Torralba with 88.65 percent, and 10th placer Emma Ruby Aguilar with 88.4 percent.
For the first time, the high court announced the Top 20 placers for the Bar exams.
Lyan David Juanico and Lougenia Cariño, both of San Beda College-Manila, placed 11th and 12th; Arman Joseph Guzman, of UST, placed 13th; Jewelle Ann Lou Santos, of Ateneo De Manila University, placed 14th; while Stephanie Claros of the University of San Jose-Recoletos in Cebu; Rhea Doll Gonzalo, of Xavier University in Cagayan De Oro City; and Nadia Christine Mendiguarin, of Saint Louis University in Baguio City, were tied at 15th place.
The other topnotchers”•from 16th to 20th places, respectively”•were Eileen Carla Carpio of San Beda University-Manila; Ella Mae Mendoza of the University of Cebu; Aecaya Christine Calero of UST; Pretz Vernie Vinluan of University of the Philippines; and Roniel Resurrection of Jose Rizal University.
In the 2016 Bar exams, a total of 3,747 passed representing 59.06 percent of the total of 6,344 takers. In the 2015 Bar exams, on the other hand, a total of 1,731 passed, representing 26.21 percent of the total of 6,605 takers.
The SC bared that a total of 7,227 were admitted to take the examinations, but only 6,748 finished the exams after 11 examinees dropped out and 468 did not show up during the four-Sunday exams.
The Bar exams held at the University of Sto. Tomas in Manila covered eight subjects – Political Law, Civil Law, Taxation, Labor Law, Criminal Law, Remedial Law, Mercantile Law and Legal and Judicial Ethics.
Bersamin also revealed the names of the examiners, which were highly confidential during the conduct and checking of the exams.
Click here for the complete list of passers