11,437 aspirants show up on first day of Bar exams

CEBU, Philippines —  A total of 11,437 lawyer-aspirants took the first day of the 2025 Bar examinations, representing an 86.7 percent turnout.

According to Supreme Court (SC) Associate Justice Amy Lazaro-Javier, chairperson of the 2025 Bar examinations, the total number of examinees admitted to take the tests this year was 13,193.

Of the 11,437 who showed up, 5,214 were first-time takers, 4,239 were repeaters, and 1,984 were refreshers. The examinees were scattered across 14 testing centers nationwide.

Lazaro-Javier also said 241 takers were persons with disabilities, 206 were senior citizens, 40 were pregnant, and 139 had a medical condition. The youngest Bar taker is 24 years old while the oldest is 80 years old.

She also highlighted that among the 14 testing sites, New Era University in Metro Manila registered the most number of examinees with 1,698, followed by the University of San Jose-Recoletos in Cebu with 1,264 and Saint Louis University in Baguio with 1,253.

“With each question I really prayed hard for discernment and wisdom that the Lord will guide me in helping you fulfill your lifelong dream of becoming lawyers,” she said in a press conference.

Lazaro-Javier said this year’s Bar exams were guided by the convenience, safety, and comfort of the examinees.

More females than males

For the second consecutive year, female examinees have outnumbered their male counterparts in this year’s exams, with 6,673 women aspirants who took the first day of the exams, which is more than the 4,764 men who were present.

Lazaro-Javier said this trend is consistent with a pattern observed across the legal profession in the country

“The statistics have not changed. Sa law school puro babae na. Mas marami na ang babae at saka ang Bar passers natin mas marami ring babae. In the trial court, siguro 60 percent na ang women judges,” she said.

In the 2024 Bar examinations, 6,108 women showed up for the first day of the tests, compared to 4,375 men.

Lazaro-Javier also noted the trend of increasing examinees per year, saying it is expected especially when there is a “big casualty rate” in the previous year’s exams as it is “the tendency for this people to repeat the following year.”

She said her standard for creating the exams is “reasonableness and fairness,” saying every subject is “equally situated with the other subjects.”

With this, she said she thinks 2025 Bar examinees have a “good fighting chance.”

Bar exams stays digital

Lazaro-Javier said the exams remained digitized and regionalized for this year, and it will remain so within the next three years, as part of the SC’s commitment to make it “as predictable as it can be to be fair to the Bar takers.”

She said there will be no revert to the traditional “pen-to-paper” format and no new rules and innovations will be implemented.

“Our commitment and resolution of the Court is that within the next three years, the Bar will be the same. No new rules. No further innovations. It will continue to be digitalized and regionalized,” she said.

The digital and regionalized format is aimed at making the exam inclusive by allowing examinees to take the test in their home regions and eliminating the burdens associated with traveling to a single testing center in Metro Manila.

It was in 2021 when the SC approved the shift by adopting a digitalized, localized, and proctored format for the first time. In the November 2021 Bar exams, it allowed aspiring lawyers to take the test using their own Wi-Fi enabled laptops, replacing the traditional, handwritten system.

Lazaro-Javier said the first day of the Bar exams is “absolutely peaceful” as there is no record of violence across all 14 testing centers.

She also said the SC has put in place contingency measures in case of unexpected circumstances that could hamper the exams, for example flooding in the areas of the testing sites.

‘Keep fighting ‘til the end’

Lazaro-Javier urged examinees not to give up, calling on her “Bar babies” to “keep fighting till the end and win this challenge.”

She issued the remark, saying she is saddened by some Bar exam takers who would opt out in the next two days of the exams after being disheartened after the first day.

“I cannot judge them for their decision because I am not in their situation,” she said.

She, however, encouraged them to “keep going” as success is a product of a “series of decisions to show up and do your best.”

“If they don’t show up, it’s the end of the line. But I want my Bar babies to keep fighting till the end and win this challenge,” Lazaro-Javier said.

Those who would finish and be able to pass the exams, Lazaro-Javier said that while they might choose to be in the private practice, she wished that “they will never stop doing public service and should never lose their idealism.”

“Never ever sacrifice their integrity because a good lawyer is a good person,” she said. –Philippine Star News Service/FPL (CEBU NEWS)