Supreme Court Associate Justice Mariano C. Del Castillo, Chairperson of the 2018 Supreme Court Committee on the Bar Examinations, today announced the results of the 2018 Bar Examinations shortly after the special En Banc session of the High Court held today.
Speaking at the quadrangle of the Supreme Court New Building, Justice Del Castillo announced that a total of 1,800 out of the 8,155 examinees who completed the 2018 Bar Examinations passed. This figure translates to 22.07% of the total examinees who completed the said examinations. The percentage is lower than the 25.5% (1,724 out of 6,748) examinees who passed the 2017 Bar Examinations.
Justice Del Castillo also announced that the oathtaking of the successful Bar examinees will be held on June 13, 2019 at 2:00 PM at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC). Signing of the Roll of Attorneys will start the following day, June 14.
Justice Del Castillo named the Bar examiners as follows: Atty. Carlo L. Cruz (Political & Public International Law); Atty. Hans Leo J. Cacdac (Labor Law & Social Legislation); Atty. Ma. Ngina Teresa V. Chan-Gonzaga (Civil Law); Atty. Carlos G. Baniqued (Taxation); Dean Cesar L. Villanueva (Mercantile Law); (Retired Court of Appeals) Justice Edgardo P. Cruz (Criminal Law); Atty. Tranquil G.S. Salvador III (Remedial Law); and Atty. Regina P. Geraldez (Legal Ethics & Practical Exercises).
The Deputy Bar Confidant, Atty. Amor Entila, on the same occasion, announced that the Bar passers may secure their clearances from the Office of the Bar Confidant (OBC) beginning May 7 until June 11. Successful Bar passers are directed to prepare a total amount of P6,050 (P3,850 for oath fees and P2,200 for Integrated Bar of the Philippines [IBP] dues, including building fund). For clearance, each is advised to bring three (3) valid identification cards (IDs) – one for security and the two others for presentation to the OBC.
2018 BAR TOPNOTCHERS
Borja, Sean James B., a graduate of Ateneo De Manila University topped this year’s Bar Examinations with the highest over-all rating of 89.3060%. The 2018 Bar topnotchers are as follows:
| Rank | Name | School | Rating |
| 1 | Borja, Sean James B. | Ateneo De Manila University | 89.3060% |
| 2 | Natu-el, Marcley Augustus D. | University of San Carlos | 87.5300% |
| 3 | Badayos, Mark Lawrence C. | University of San Carlos | 85.8420% |
| 4 | Fordan, Daniel John A. | Ateneo De Manila University | 85.4430% |
| 5 | Gaw, Katrina Monica C. | Ateneo De Manila University | 85.4210% |
| 6 | Tongco, Nadaine P. | University of the Philippines | 85.0320% |
| 7 | Sevilla, Patricia O. | University of the Philippines | 84.8590% |
| 8 | Ting, Kathrine T. | De La Salle University-Manila | 84.8570% |
| 9 | Cane, Jebb Lynus Q. | University of San Carlos | 84.8050% |
| 10 | Pita, Alen Joel R. | University of San Carlos | 84.6930% |
The 2018 Bar Examinations are the 117th held in the Philippines. The exams were held at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila and were administered by the OBC headed by Deputy Bar Confidant Atty. Entila.
The complete list of successful examinees is posted and may be viewed at sc.judiciary.gov.ph, the official website of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, and its designated mirror sites.
BAR EXAMS COVERAGE
The Bar Examinations are given only once every year at a designated venue under the supervision of the Supreme Court which designates an incumbent Justice to chair a committee consisting of eight (8) examiners, one for each Bar subject. Under Rule 138, Section 9 of the Rules of Court, the coverage of the Bar Examinations includes the following subjects: Political Law and Public International Law (15%), Labor and Social Legislation (10%), Civil Law (15%), Taxation (10%), Mercantile Law (15%), Criminal Law (10%), Remedial Law (20%), and Legal Ethics and Practical Exercises (5%). The Chair of the Committee on Bar Examinations is given the discretion by the SC to choose the eight Bar examiners who are considered as experts in their particular fields and, during the entire duration of the Bar examinations, are bound by strict confidentiality.
STATISTICS FOR THE 2018 BAR EXAMINATIONS
For the 2018 Bar examinations, there was a total number of 8,752 applicants. Of the said number, eight were denied, while 43 withdrew their applications, leaving a total of 8,701 applicants admitted to take the Bar by the Supreme Court En Banc. Of this number, 543 examinees did not show up on the First Sunday of the Bar, leaving 8,158 who actually took the exams on the first Sunday. After the fourth Sunday of the bar, only 8,155 examinees completed the examinations, i.e., showed up for all Sundays.
Of the 8,158 who took or showed up for at least one Sunday, 4,077 were new candidates, while 4,081 were repeaters, i.e., those who had taken the Bar examinations at least once previously. The total number of 2018 Bar examinees is the highest so far in the history of the Bar exams.
COMPARATIVE RESULTS FOR THE BAR EXAMINATIONS
The OBC, which administers the annual Bar examinations, is also the repository of the records and data on Bar admission. It provides these comparative statistics on the Bar examination results since 2000:
| Year | Passers/Total Examinees | Passing Percentage |
| 2000 | 979/4,698 | 20.48% |
| 2001 | 1,266/3,849 | 32.98% |
| 2002 | 917/4,659 | 19.68% |
| 2003 | 1,108/5,349 | 20.71% |
| 2004 | 1,659/5,249 | 31.61% |
| 2005 | 1,526/5,607 | 27.22% |
| 2006 | 1,893/6,187 | 30.60% |
| 2007 | 1,289/5,626 | 22.91% |
| 2008 | 1,310/6,364 | 20.58% |
| 2009 | 1,451/5,903 | 24.58% |
| 2010 | 982/4,847 | 20.26% |
| 2011 | 1,913/5,987 | 31.95% |
| 2012 | 949/5,343 | 17.76% |
| 2013 | 1,174/5,292 | 22.18% |
| 2014 | 1,126/5,984 | 18.82% |
| 2015 | 1,731/6,605 | 26.21% |
| 2016 | 3,747/6,344 | 59.06% |
| 2017 | 1,724/6,748 | 25.5% |
| 2018 | 1,800/8,155 | 22.07% |
TWO-EXAMINER POLICY FOR 2019 BAR EXAMS
For the 2019 Bar Examinations, the Court, in B.M. No. 3489, upon the recommendation of Justice Estela M. Perlas-Bernabe, incoming 2019 Bar Chairperson, has approved the adoption of a general policy to designate two examiners per subject for the Bar examinations.
In implementing the two-examiner policy, every Bar subject shall be divided into two parts. Each examiner shall be assigned a specific scope to formulate questions. During the examinations, each Bar examinee shall be given one questionnaire containing Parts I and II and two conjoined booklets (marked Part I and II), where answers corresponding to each part of the questionnaire shall be written. Each booklet shall contain a card wherein the grade or rating received by the Bar examinee for each part shall be indicated. After the examinations, Part I booklets will be released to the first examiner simultaneous with the release of Part II booklets to the second examiner for checking in order to expedite the checking of booklets while ensuring the quality of assessing them.