Whew! Takers say bar exams 'difficult, unusual'

MANILA, Philippines - Very difficult and unusual. This was how some law graduates described the September 2007 bar examinations, which had a passing rate of less than one fourth of the 5,626 examinees. Bar passer Ruben Ayson Jr, 26, of the University of the Philippines told GMAnews.TV that the exams were "very out of trend" because these contained "very uncommon" questions. For instance, Ayson said that in the labor law portion of the exam, takers were asked about "wrong questions in labor case procedures", which he said were "not exactly taught in law schools." Also, he said that in the criminal law portion of the test, takers were asked about "uncommon" crimes such as sedition. "These were unfamiliar to many of us. There were no questions about common crimes such as murder or kidnapping." "A bar exam is supposed to measure your knowledge of the law. It is not about testing us of what we don't know," he added Excellent lawyers In another interview, a law graduate from a top university who refused to be named, told GMANews.TV that she decided not to take the exam after she was told that it would be "extra difficult." "I decided not to take it after I was advised that it would be extra difficult. And it was true, some of my batch mates who took the bar had a hard time answering the questions," she said. A source from the Supreme Court said Associate Justice Adolfo Azcuna, chair of the 2007 Committee on Bar Examinations, made sure that the exams would produce "high-quality bar passers." "He himself was a bar topnotcher. He was also a cum laude. So he's used to excellence. Perhaps, the exams were made difficult because he wanted this batch to produce excellent lawyers," the source said. Line of seven The top examinee, Mercedita L. Ona of the Ateneo de Manila University only got a rating of 83.55 percent. "That means the exam was very difficult, because the top passer's rating was already low. The 10th placer's rating was at 80 percent. That means the overwhelming majority of the passers had a line of seven rating," said Ayson. Another source from the high court confirmed to GMANews.TV an earlier report that the original passing rate was only five percent, or about 280 passers. But after deliberations, the passing rate was adjusted to to 22.91 percent, or 1,289 passers out of the 5,626 takers. "That's why it took sometime before the results came out," the source said. Kim Deloria, 28, a bar passer from UP was afraid he would fail the exam. "After I took the difficult exam. I thought I didn't have a fighting chance. I wasn't sure I'd pass, so I thought that perhaps I should change my career plan," he said. Each portion of the bar exams had 100 points. Most of the exams had 10 questions of 10 points each. Deloria said that previously, each portion of the exam had 15 questions. "In the 2007 exams, if you had two mistakes, dehado ka na. If you had three mistakes, you fail already because the passing mark is 75 percent," he said. The passing average in the bar exams is 75 percent, with no grade falling below 50 percent in any bar subject. Be proud For Ayson, this batch's passers should feel proud. "May ipagyayabang kami, kasi ang hirap talaga (We should be proud that we passed a very hard exam)." The 2007 passing rate of 22.19 percent, was the lowest in the last four years. In 2006, the passing rate was 30.60 percent. In 2005, it was 27.22 percent, while in 2004, it was 31.61 percent. From 1946 to 2007, the highest passing rate was registered in 1954 at 75.17 percent, while lowest was in 1999 at 16.59 percent. - AR Sabangan, GMANews.TV