BY GEROME DALIPE IV
ILOILO City – A total of 10,483 aspiring lawyers showed up yesterday for the first day of the 2024 Bar examinations, according to Supreme Court Associate Justice and 2024 Bar chair Mario Lopez.
In a press briefing, Justice Lopez said that out of 12,246 applicants, about 10, 483 examinees took this year’s Bar exams.
Cheers from family members, law school peers, fraternity and sorority peers, and well-wishers greeted close to 600 aspiring lawyers as they trooped before sunrise to 13 local testing centers in the country on Sunday.
At the Central Philippine University (CPU), one of the local testing centers, Bar takers were applauded by their schoolmates as they entered the main street of Lopez Jaena past 5 a.m.
In a heartwarming show of solidarity, SIGMA RHO Fraternity and LAMBDA SIGMA RHO Sorority have extended their support to 2024 Bar takers by providing food packs.
This initiative was not limited to Bar examinees from Iloilo law schools but also included those coming from other regions who opted to take the Bar Exams in Iloilo City, especially those who are far from home and had no one with them to help in their preparation.
This gesture reflects the organization’s commitment to fostering a sense of community and support for aspiring lawyers during one of the most challenging times in their academic journey.
Through this simple act, the fraternity wishes to convey a message to the Bar takers: “You are not alone, and we are here fighting alongside you.”
By providing these food packs, the fraternity, and sorority aim to not only ease some of the pressures the Bar takers face but also to reinforce the sense of unity and encouragement within the legal community. This initiative embodies the values of camaraderie, compassion, and excellence that both SIGMA RHO and LAMBDA SIGMA RHO uphold, reinforcing their role in not just academic success, but also in personal and moral support for the legal community.
The next set of exams will be held on Wednesday, September 11, and Sunday, September 15. This year’s Bar exams remained digitized and regionalized. It was the fourth time the exams were digitized — different from the traditional handwritten tests.
In compliance with its Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations 2022-2027, the Supreme Court has shifted the framework in the conduct of Bar Examinations from the traditional pen-and-paper method to the digital platform.
The guiding principle is to harness the limitless potential of technology while being cautious about how to mitigate the risks if certain applications are adopted.
The tribunal administers the 2024 Bar Examinations using the Examplify software, a system that enables examinees to download the examinations to their laptop computers while blocking access to other files and programs. Internet connectivity is required to download the examinations and upload the answers. The laptop must run on MacOS or Windows only. Smartphones, tablets, computer accessories, and similar devices are not allowed.
According to the rules, examinees must set the default font size to 14 for the actual examinations. The use of a font size larger than that prescribed while taking the Bar Examinations and which suggests to a reasonable person that it was employed to flash, exhibit, or display one’s answers to an adjacent examinee, is prohibited.
The exams’ six core subjects are Political and Public International Law (15 percent); Commercial and Taxation Laws (20 percent); Civil Law (20 percent); Labor Law and Social Legislation (10 percent); Criminal Law (10 percent); and Remedial Law, Legal and Judicial Ethics with Practical Exercises (25 percent).
In 2023, a total of 3, 812 out of 10, 387 examinees passed the Bar exams, with a passing rate of 36.77 percent. It was lower than the 2022 passing rate of 43.47 percent, or 3,992 out of 9,183 examinees.
Ephraim Bie topped the Bar exams in 2023 with a grade of 89.2625 percent. The release of the 2024 Bar exam results is expected in early December, while the oath-taking and the signing of the Roll of Attorneys is scheduled on Jan. 24, 2025./PN
