Bar results out today

MANILA, Philippines – Results of the 2007 Bar examinations will be released this afternoon after the Supreme Court yesterday deferred the release to give the Office of the Bar Confidant enough time to decode the numbers assigned to each examinee.

Court Spokesman Midas Marquez said the decision to postpone the release of the results was reached after an en banc session of the justices to carefully check numbers that match the names of examinees and avoid errors.

Marquez said the decoding took longer than expected, “but they are now starting to decode” and expect the decoding to be finished by lunch time today.

The 2007 Bar examinations, held on the first four Sundays of September last year at the De La Salle University on Taft Avenue, Manila, were participated in by 5,626 law graduates from 109 schools nationwide.

Marquez pointed out that every year, the SC receives requests for re-checking, especially from those who failed in the examinations.

“But the Court does not normally entertain or allow such requests, unless there are strong arguments for re-checking,” he said.

He added that the list of names will be displayed in LCD projectors to be strategically placed at the front yard of the SC near the Padre Faura gate.

The results can also be viewed on the SC website www.supremecourt.gov.ph.

Marquez said Associate Justice Adolfo Azcuna, chairman of the 2007 committee on bar examinations, will hold a press briefing before the results are released.

Sources said those who took the 2007 Bar included the children of SC Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco Jr., Court of Appeals Justices Remedios Salazar-Fernando, Lucenito Tagle, and Mariflor Castillo; Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, and Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuño.

The SC noted that the number of examinees last year is lower compared to 6,187 exams takers in 2006.

The 2007 Bar exams mark the third time that the “five-strike” rule was implemented by the SC.

Under the rule, a candidate may take the exams for a maximum of five times.

The High Court conducts the Bar examinations pursuant to Article VIII Section 5 of the Constitution which provides that it shall have the power to promulgate rules governing the admission to the practice of law.

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. – Mike Frialde