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1,310 pass Bar Exam; law grad from San Sebastian is No. 1


Women have outshone men in RP Bar Exam since 2000 Women have outshone men in the knowledge of law. Data from the Supreme Court culled by GMANews.TV showed that from 2000 to 2008, more female than male law graduates topped the Bar exam. In the last nine years, there were 54 women, and 43 men who were included in the top 10 bar passers. In five of the nine years, there were more women than men who were included in the top ten. These are in 2008 (10 women out of 12 top passers); 2007 (nine women out of 12 top 10 passers); 2006 (six women out of 11 top ten passers); 2002 (six women out of 11 top 10 passers); and in 2000 (seven women out of 11 passers). For the complete story, click this.
MANILA, Philippines — Judy Lardizabal, a law graduate from the San Sebastian College, emerged on top of the 1,310 examinees who passed the 2008 Bar Examination. The exam's 20.58 percent passing rate was lower than last year’s 22.91 percent. A record 6,364 examinees from 108 law schools took the test in September 2008. For the complete list of bar exam passers, click this. Lardizabal who got a score of 85.70 percent is followed by Mylene Amerol-Macumbal of the Mindanao State University with 85.65. Third is Oliver Baclay Jr. of the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) with 85.6; followed by Majesty Eve Jala of Ateneo (85.50); Ma. Elizabeth Liceralde of the University of the Philippines (85.40); and Michael Macapagal also of UP (84.15). Denise Dy and April Love Regis both from ADMU are tied in seventh place (84.00), followed by Christine Joy Tan of ADMU (83.80). Shirley Velasquez of UP and Jihan Jacob of San Beda are in the ninth spot (83.75). Vanessa Raymundo of San Beda Collage (83.70) completes the top 10. The Supreme Court earlier said the release of the results would be at 4 p.m. but later moved it to 6 p.m. “Nagde-decode pa kasi at after the decoding, immediately after, ilalabas na natin iyan [We still have to decode the results before releasing them]," SC spokesman Midas Marquez said earlier in the afternoon.
2008 Bar Topnotchers

1. LARDIZABAL, Judy
2. MACUMBAL, Mylene
3. BACLAY, Oliver
4. JALA, Majesty
5.LICERALDE, Elizabeth
6.MACAPAGAL, Michael
7.DY, Denise
7.REGIS, April
8.TAN, Christine
9.JACOB, Jihan
9.VELASQUEZ, Shirley
10.RAYMUNDO, Vanessa
The Philippine Bar Examination is the national licensure exam for the admission to the practice of law. The 2008 bar examinations committee was chaired by Associate Justice Dante Tinga The list of passers were displayed at the Supreme Court premises and was flashed on wide screens at the high court's front yard near the Padre Faura entrance. For people who wanted to spare themselves from braving through the thick crowd that would flock to the Supreme Court building in Manila, the court had put up a Web site where the names of the passers were displayed. However, for Dave Uy III, one of the thousands of hopefuls, seeing whether or not his name is on the coveted list was more important. “Gusto ko ako talaga ako makakakita ng name ko talaga. Ito na. Pinaghirapan ko po ito [I want to see my name myself. This is it. I’ve worked hard for this]," he told GMA News. Even Dory Panis trooped to the Supreme Court to view the results – even if she was not an examinee. “Hindi makapunta anak ko. Natatakot siya at stressed na stressed. Magdamag siyang hindi makatulog [My child – who does not want to go here – is so stressed, afraid, and was unable to sleep]." More women than men More women than men were included in the top ten in the last nine years. There were 54 female Bar topnotchers from 2000 to 2008, and only 43 males during the same period. The last Bar exam in September 2008 had the most number of women topnotchers. Of the 12 topnotchers, 10 of them were women led by Judy Lardizabal from the San Sebastian College with a rating of 85.70 percent. In the last nine years, there were five women who topped the Bar exam. They are Lardizabal, Mercedita Ona of the Ateneo de Manila University (83.55 in 2007), Arlene M. Maneja of the University of Sto. Tomas (92.90 in 2002); January A. Sanchez of UP (87.45 in 2004); and Joan A. de Venecia of UP (87.20 in 2005). Former senator Tecla San Andres-Ziga was the first woman who topped the Bar in 1930, with a rating of 89.4 percent. Among the women Bar examinees who got the highest grades in specific bar subjects were Ma. Celia H. Fernandez of UP who was 100 percent in legal ethics when she topped the bar in 1997, and Gladys V. Gervacio of the University of Perpetual Help-Rizal who also got perfect scores in legal ethics and labor law exams when she placed sixth in the 2005 Bar. - 108th time The 108th Bar exam were conducted over four Sundays of September 2008 at the De La Salle University in Taft Avenue, Manila. In determining the average, subjects in the examinations are given the following relative weights: Political and International Law, 15%; 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. The 2008 Bar exam marked the fourth time since the 'five-strike' rule was observed, allowing a law graduate to take the test up to only five times. Next to lowest The passing rate in the 2008 Bar Examination is next to lowest since 2000. Data from the Supreme Court show that 2008's 20.58 percent passing rate equivalent to 1,310 passers out of the 6,364 takers was next to 2002's 19.68 percent or 917 passers out of 4,659 takers. The highest passing rate recorded by the high court during the nine-year period was in 2001 wherein 32.89 percent or 1,266 out of the 3,849 takers passed the exam. Swamped with visitors The Supreme Court's Web site was swamped Friday night with visitors checking the results of the exam. As of 9:20 p.m., less than an hour after the Supreme Court posted the results on its site, a counter on the Bar results page showed 1,890,079 visitors. There were several instances when the page would either slow down loading or time out. Of the eight mirror sites the high court used to display the Bar results, two (sc.judiciary.gov.ph and bar.judiciary.gov.ph) would time out. - with reports from CARLO LORENZO, GMANews.TV
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