MANILA, Philippines — Results of the 2017 Bar examinations will be released on April 26, the Supreme Court (SC) announced yesterday.
The SC public information office said the justices will hold a special session in Manila after their annual summer sessions in Baguio City this month to deliberate on the results of the Bar exams.
“After which, the 2017 Bar exams committee chair, Associate Justice Lucas Bersamin, will officially announce the results. Names of successful examinees will be flashed on a screen at the SC quadrangle and also posted to the SC website,” it revealed.
A total of 6,750 law graduates took the grueling Bar exams in November last year at the University of Sto. Tomas, facilitated by the high court’s committee on the 2017 Bar exams chaired by Associate Justice Lucas Bersamin.
The Bar examinations – considered as the most grueling government test – cover eight subjects: Civil Law, Criminal Law, Labor Law, Legal Ethics and Practical Exercises, Mercantile Law, Political Law, Taxation and Remedial Law.
In the 2016 Bar exams, a total of 3,747 law graduates passed or 59.06 percent of the total of 6,344 takers who completed the exams. It was the second highest passing rate in the history of Bar exams since 1954, when the passing rate was 75.17 percent.
Additional security measures were put in place since the grenade explosion that marred the September 2010 Bar exams in De La Salle University in Manila.
In the past four years, the examinees were required to use transparent or see-through bags for convenience and security.
In the 2013 Bar exams, the SC reverted back to its previous format, which was predominantly essay-type. They consist of 80 percent essay-type questions and 20 percent multiple-choice questions (MCQ).
In the two years prior to that, the SC conducted a predominantly MCQ format for the Bar exams.
The high court also lifted its five-strike rule in Bar examinations, a policy implemented since 2005 in which examinees who have flunked five times are disqualified from further taking the Bar exams.