THE Bar examinations, considered as one of the toughest examinations starts today, November 4.
The Office of the Bar Confidant (OBC) said there are 8,701 candidates who applied to take the 2018 Bar exam, higher compared to last year which had 6, 748 Bar takers.
Of the number, only 1,724 passed or 25.54 percent.
Lawyer Joan Largo, dean of the University of San Carlos (USC) College of Law, reminded their examinees “to trust in the preparation and to trust in God’s grace.”
USC law graduates have topped the Bar exams for the past years, including last year when they had three of the top ten passers.
The Dean of the University of Cebu (UC) College of Law lawyer Baldomero Estenzo also said prayer is the candidates’ best weapon to pass the exam.
“They have prepared for the Bar long and hard. Now is the time to pray hard for the grace of the Holy Spirit to grant them clarity of thought and the answer to the questions that will be asked,” said Estenzo.
“So that when the examination is over they can tell themselves that they have done their best,” he added.
Both USC and UC are home of several topnotchers in Cebu. Supreme Court Associate Justice Mariano del Castillo, the chairman of this year’s Bar Examination Committee, said the number of takers is the highest in recent years.
The Bar exam will be conducted on all four Sundays of November (4, 11,18 and 25) at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) in Manila.
“We’re hoping that the questions will be reasonable so that the national passing percentage will be high. We need so many good lawyers to help our courts administer justice,” said Estenzo.
The Bar covers eight subjects: political law, labor law, civil law, taxation, mercantile law, criminal law, remedial law, and legal ethics.