by Maria Jayzamel B. Vista
MENDIOLA, MANILA — The San Beda University-College of Law (SBU-COL) yielded 308 new Bedan lawyers out of 316 bar examinees in the historic #BestBarEver2020_21 Bar Examinations.
SBU-COL recorded a 97.47-percent overall passing rate, earning the third spot in the top performing law schools with more than 100 bar candidates in the country.
For first-time takers, the College recorded a 98.10-percent passing rate.
SBU-COL produced 94 exemplary bar passers and one excellent bar passer.
With a 96.5 percent turnout despite the pandemic, #BestBarEver2020_21 Bar Examination posted a whopping 72.28 percent national passing rate—the highest passing rate recorded in at least 30 years, superseding the 59.06 percent record of the 2016 bar.
Out of the total 11,402 bar examinees, 8,241 Bedan takers successfully hurdled the first online, decentralized bar exams.
While the 2020/21 Bar Exams Committee removed the recognition of topnotchers, it still acknowledged the bar examinees who excelled and classified them as exemplary and excellent bar passers.
Exemplary bar passers are those who garnered a grade of 85 percent to 90 percent while excellent bar takers are those who earned a grade of above 90 percent.
The 2020 and 2021 bar examinees took the exams last February 4 and 6.The exams were held in 31 testing sites located in 22 local government units all over the country. The bar results were released less than two months after the examinations.
Due to the emergence of different variances of the COVID-19 virus, the supposed 2020 November Bar examination was canceled. It was followed by another cancellation of the 2021 Bar exams, which was rescheduled to January 2022, but was later similarly postponed.
Changes in the exams include the reduction of number of days and number of bar subjects—from four Sundays of November, which cover eight subjects, down to only two days covering four consolidated law subjects, namely, Criminal Law, the Law pertaining to the State and its Relationship with its Citizens, the Law pertaining to Private Personal and Commercial Relations, as well as Procedure and Professional Ethics.
The new members of the bar were officially inducted into the legal profession last May 2 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Photos by Ramon Bautista
The Barrister 