For Eign-Ed U Cated Pi Noys Can Take Bar Ex Am I Na Tions: Manila Times 24 Mar 2010 WILLIAM B. DEPASUPIL

Foreign-educated Pinoys can take Bar examinations
Manila Times · 24 Mar 2010 · WILLIAM B. DEPASUPIL
THE Supreme Court announced on Tuesday that Filipino graduates of foreign law schools may now take the Philippine Bar examina-
tions subject to certain conditions.
The much-awaited results of the 2009 Bar examinations will be known Friday after the High Court en banc’s morning deliberation on
the passing percentage.
The O ce of the Bar Con dant said that the High Tribunal en banc amended Section 5 and 6 of Rule 138 of the Rules of Court to allow
foreign-educated Filipinos to take the Bar exams.
Section 5 of Rule 138 now provides that before being admitted to the examination, all applicants for admission to the Bar shall satis-
factorily show that they have successfully completed all the prescribed courses for the degree of Bachelor of Laws or its equivalent
degree in a law school or university o cially recognized by the Philippine Government or by the proper authority in the foreign juris-
diction where the degree has been granted.
It further provides that a Filipino citizen who graduated from a foreign law school shall be admitted to the Bar examination only upon
submission to the Supreme Court of his or her certi cations showing completion of all courses leading to the degree of Bachelor of
Laws or its equivalent degree; recognition or accreditation of the law school by the proper authority; and completion of all fourth year
subjects in the Bachelor of Laws academic program in a law school duly recognized by the Philippine government.
A Filipino citizen who completed and obtained his or her degree in Bachelor of Laws or its equivalent in a foreign law school must also
present proof of completion of a separate bachelor’s degree.
Bar exams results
Figures from the O ce of the Bar Con dant, headed by Deputy Clerk of Court and Bar Con dant lawyer Ma. Cristina Layusa, showed a
total of 5,903 law graduates from 109 law schools nationwide nished the exams held on September 6, 13, and 20 and October 4, 2009
at the De La Salle University in Taft Avenue, Manila.
Justice Antonio Nachura, chairman of the 2009 Committee on Bar Examinations, said the list of the names will be displayed in LCD
projectors to be strategically placed at the Supreme Court front yard near its Padre Faura entrance.
The results can be viewed simultaneously at sc.judiciary.gov.ph, the o cial website of the High Court.
The names of the 2009 Bar examiners will also be revealed this Friday. The 2009 Bar exams marked the rst time that not one but two
examiners were designated as examiners in each of the eight Bar examination subjects.
The Rules of Court provide that “a candidate may be deemed to have passed his examination successfully if he has obtained a general
average of 75 percent in all subjects without falling below 50 percent in any subject.”
In determining the average, subjects in the examinations are given the following relative weights: Political and International Law, 15
percent; Labor and Social Legislation, 10 percent; Civil Law, 15 percent; Taxation, 10 percent; Mercantile Law, 15 percent; Criminal
Law, 10 percent; Remedial Law, 20 percent; and Legal Ethics and Practical Exercises, 5 percent, for a total of 100 percent.
The rst Bar exams were held in 1901, with 13 examinees. In 2008, a total of 6,364 examinees took the Bar but only 1,310, or 20.58
percent passed the examinations.
All throughout the Bar exams history, only 12 law schools managed to produce rst placers in the examinations.
The University of the Philippines (UP) College of Law has the most number of bar topnotchers with 49 topping the exam, followed by
Ateneo de Manila Law School with 19, Philippine Law School and San Beda College of Law with six each, University of Manila College
of Law with four each, Far Eastern University Institute of Law and University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Civil Law with three each,
University of the Cordilleras (formerly Baguio Colleges Foundation) College of Law and Manuel L. Quezon University College of Law
with two each, Manila Law College Foundation (formerly Escuela de Derecho de Manila), Divine Word College and the University of
the East College of Law with one bar topnotcher each.
The Philippine President who got the highest score as a topnotcher was Ferdinand Marcos with 92.35-percent average in 1939.
In 1945, Jovito Salonga and Jose Diokno tied the highest score of 95.3 percent. The only other instance of a tie at rst place of the bar
exams was when Edwin Enrile (salutatorian of his Ateneo Law School class) and Florin Hilbay (an honor student of the UP College of
Law) both garnered the same score in 1999.
Ateneo Law School’s Mercedita Ona, got the lowest passing grade of 83.55 percent in 2007, which erased the prior record of 84.10
percent, obtained by Adolfo Brillantes of Escuela de Derecho de Manila (now Manila Law College Foundation) in 1920.
No bar examinee has ever reached a 100 percent general average, but several bar examinees have garnered perfect and near-perfect
grades in speci c bar subjects.

For Eign-Ed U Cated Pi Noys Can Take Bar Ex Am I Na Tions: Manila Times 24 Mar 2010 WILLIAM B. DEPASUPIL

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

For Eign-Ed U Cated Pi Noys Can Take Bar Ex Am I Na Tions: Manila Times 24 Mar 2010 WILLIAM B. DEPASUPIL

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

For Eign-Ed U Cated Pi Noys Can Take Bar Ex Am I Na Tions: Manila Times 24 Mar 2010 WILLIAM B. DEPASUPIL

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Foreign-educated Pinoys can take Bar examinations

Manila Times · 24 Mar 2010 · WILLIAM B. DEPASUPIL

You might also like