THE Supreme Court (SC) yesterday said close to 10,000 law graduates from across the country are set to take the 2022 Bar exams to be held in 14 local testing centers starting today.
The High Court said 10,006 applicants have been assigned their local testing centers, but 253 law graduates withdrew their applications for various reasons.
It said it is expecting 9,821 law graduates to take the four-part Bar examinations on November 9, 13, 16 and 20.
Of the 9,821 candidates, 5,847 will be taking the Bar Examinations for the first time, while 3,974 will be retaking the exams.
The 14 testing centers are located in San Beda University, De La Salle University, Manila Adventist College, Ateneo Junior High School Complex, Ateneo de Manila University, and the state-run University of the Philippines, for Metro Manila.
In Luzon, the University of Saint Louis in Baguio City, De La Salle – Lipa City, and University of Nueva Caceres in Naga City in Luzon will host the exams, while the University of Cebu, University of San Jose Recoletos – Cebu City, and Dr. Vicente Orestes Romualdez Education Foundation in Tacloban City will be used in the Visayas.
The exams will also be held at the Xavier University in Cagayan de Oro, Ateneo de Davao, and Ateneo de Zamboanga in Zamboanga City in Mindanao.
The SC said Ateneo de Manila University will have the largest number of Bar examinees at 2,529; while Ateneo de Zamboanga University will have the least number of examinees at 267.
The number of Bar examinees in the 12 other testing centers are as follows: San Beda University — 600, De La Salle University — 794, Manila Adventist College — 350, University of the Philippines — Bonifacio Global City — 680, Saint Louis University — 1000, De La Salle Lipa — 366, University of Nueva Caceres — 465, University of Cebu — 789, University of San Carlos — 530, Dr. Vicente Orestes Romualdez Educational Foundation — 392, Xavier University or Ateneo de Cagayan — 464, and Ateneo de Davao University — 780.
The High Court last week announced the Bar examinations will push through despite the appeal of some examinees that it be postponed due to damage wrought by typhoon “Paeng.”
The SC said the office of Associate Justice and 2022 Bar Exams Committee chairperson Alfredo Benjamin Caguiao assessed and surveyed the testing centers and have concluded that these are ready to host the examinations as scheduled.
The “regionalized and digitalized” set- up of the Bar exams were first held during the 2020 and 2021 Bar exams in February this year because of health and travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A total of 11,402 took the 2020/2021 Bar exams but only 8,241, or 72.28, percent passed the tests.
The 72.28 percent passing rate is a record high, with the highest recorded in Bar history being the 1954 examination with 75.17 percent.
