MANILA, Philippines – After over five months since it conducted the exams, the Supreme Court (SC) on Friday, April 14, finally released the list of passers of the 2022 Bar examinations.

A total of 3,992 out of 9,183 examinees passed the Bar examinations chaired by Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa.

Instead of the traditional list of top 10 examinees, the SC released the names of the 30 Bar passers who garnered the highest total averages.

The top 5 passers and 13 of the top 30 were from the University of the Philippines, said Caguioa. He said the passing rate was 43.47%.

The most recent Bar examinations is the second to be held during the pandemic, after the 2020/2021 Bar exams. The series of exams were held on November 9, 13, 16, and 20 last year in a regionalized and digitized set up in various testing centers in the country.

The results were released after the High Court’s special en banc session, which started at 10 am on Friday and which tackled the most recent Bar exams. In an earlier announcement, the SC said the results will also be uploaded on its website.

When asked for his advice to those who fell short of passing the exams, Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo said: “Never give up. Everything is according to God’s plan.” 

Gesmundo made the remarks during the launch of the Code of Professional Responsibility and Accountability, the new lawyers’ code of conduct, including the new lawyer’s oath on April 13. The chief justice noted on Thursday that the newly-admitted members of the Bar will be the first batch to use the new code of conduct and oath.

“How many will have the first privilege to take this new lawyers’ oath, I cannot answer until [Associate] Justice [Benjamin] Caguiao submits his recommendation to the Court en banc tomorrow (Friday). So for those who have sons or daughters who took the Bar, tell them to memorize it today,” the chief magistrate said.

Meanwhile, the oath-taking and roll-signing of the new lawyers has been scheduled on May 2, 2023.

Those who were conditionally allowed to take the examinations and who passed them will be allowed to join the oath-taking as long as they have submitted the required documents within the prescribed period, the SC said. The High Court also announced earlier that the Bar admission fee increased from P3,750 to P5,000 to cover the higher operations cost of the oath-taking and roll-signing ceremonies.

Some of this year’s passers from Ateneo de Manila University are also survivors of the shooting incident inside the university that claimed the lives of at least three individuals, including late former mayor of Lamitan, Basilan, Rose Furigay. The incident happened during the scheduled Ateneo Law School graduation in July 24, 2022.

Last year’s Bar exams, chaired by Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, had 8,241 passers out of over 11,402 takers, with a record-breaking passing rate of 72.28%. In the last decade, the passing rate ranged from 17% to 30%, while the highest in history is still the 1954 Bar exams with 75.17%.

The 2023 Bar examinations will be held in September this year, with only three exam dates: September 17, 20, and 24. – Rappler.com