Only 10,400 or 96.38 per cent of the 10,791 registered examinees for the 2023 online Bar examinations completed the first day of the exams administered by the Supreme Court (SC) last Sunday, Sept. 17, in 14 local testing centers nationwide.
The second day of the examinations will be on Wednesday, Sept. 20. Subjects covered for the day are Civil Law from 8 a.m. to 12 noon, and Labor Law and Social Legislation from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
On Sunday, Sept. 24, the last day of the exams, Criminal Law and Remedial Law will be in the morning and Legal and Judicial Ethics with Practical Exercises in the afternoon.
Last Sunday’s tests were on Political and Public International Law in the morning, and Commercial and Taxation Laws in the afternoon.
SC Associate Justice Ramon Paul L. Hernando, chairperson of the 2023 Bar examinations committee, said the release of the results will be early December, and the oath-taking and signing of the Roll of Attorneys will be done before Christmas.
“The idea, therefore, is for the Bar passers to join the legal profession in the same year they graduate from law school,” he said.
Assessing the first day of the examinations, Justice Hernando said: “I am proud to say that the first day of the 2023 Bar Examinations is a smashing success. The Court and its 2,310-strong Bar personnel have vigilantly stood watch over our 2023 Bar Examinees and ensured the safe, peaceful, and orderly conduct of the exams. Let us all hope and pray that this would continue until the last day of the Bar.”
“To all of my 2023 Bar Examinees, I salute you for powering through the first Bar day. There are only two Bar Examination days left. You can do it! I look forward to warmly welcoming you to our profession before Christmas day,” he also said.
During the traditional “Breakfast with the Deans” held last Sunday, at the St. Maur’s Hall of San Beda Collage Alabang – the SC’s headquarters for the examinations -- Hernando expressed his gratitude to all personages helping in the 2023 Bar examinations.
He shared how he and the rest of “Bar Team Hernando” carefully mapped out the details of this year’s Bar exams, which shortened to three days the usual four Sundays of the country’s professional licensure examinations for future lawyers.
Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo, who also spoke during the “Breakfast with the Deans” underscored the “need not just more lawyers but more lawyers with a social conscience” who will “genuinely work for social justice, putting the interest of the marginalized, vulnerable sectors and individuals first, over personal interests and parochial concerns.”
Aside from Gesmundo and Hernando, Senior Associate Justice Marvic M.V.F. Leonen, and Justices Alfredo Benjamin S. Caguioa, Amy C. Lazaro-Javier, Henri Jean Paul B. Inting, Rodil V. Zalameda, Mario V. Lopez, Samuel H. Gaerlan, Ricardo R. Rosario, Jhosep Y. Lopez, Japar B. Dimaampao, Jose Midas P. Marquez, and Maria Filomena D. Singh.
Law school Deans, for whom the annual event was instituted, and other government officials, were also in attendance.
The SC reminded that announcements on the 2023 Bar exams may be viewed at the SC website -- https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/bar-2023/.