(Eagle News) — The 2016 bar exams are now in Philippine law history books.
The examinations taken by 6,344 examinees registered a passing rate of 59.06 percent, the highest in 16 years.
More interestingly though is that all of those who made it to the top of the bar exam results list came from provincial schools, a first in the entire history of the Philippine bar examinations.
Topping the list was Karen Mae Calam, from the University of San Carlos in Cebu, with an 89.05 percent.
Fellow USC graduates Anne Margaret Momongan (87.8 percent) and Jefferson Gomez (87.7 percent) occupied the seventh and eighth spots, respectively.
A USC alumna, Fiona Cristy Lao, also shared the third spot with Andres Bonifacio College graduate Athalia Liong, each with a rating of 88.8 percent.
ABC is located in Dipolog City, Zamboanga del Norte.
Universities from other provinces
Silliman University alumna Alanna Gayle Ashley Khio bagged the second spot, with a rating of 88.95 percent.
Also taking tenth place was Andrew Stephen Liu (87.45 percent) from the same university in Dumaguete, Negros Oriental.
Marie Chielo Ybio also from Silliman, and Nia Rachelle Gonzales from the University of Batangas tied in ninth place with a rating of 87.5 percent each.
University of San Agustin in Iloilo City, Iloilo; Ateneo de Davao University; and Northwestern University in Laoag, Ilocos Norte; each had graduates in the fourth, fifth and sixth spots.
They were Allana Mae Babayen-On (88.75 percent), Justin Ryan Morilla (88.4 percent), and Mark Dave Camarao (88.10 percent), respectively.
Manila schools in top slots
In previous years, the prestigious top slots were dominated by Manila-based schools.
In 2015, for instance graduates from the University of the Philippines, Ateneo de Manila, and San Beda, including the topnotcher, dominated the list, with nine slots occupied by them.
The remaining four graduates who made it to the top came from provincial schools.
The year before, only three top slots were occupied by alumni from schools from the provinces.
The remaining 10 people who made it to the top came from UP, Ateneo de Manila, San Beda, and Far Eastern University-Dela Salle University, all based in Manila.
At par with Luzon schools
The 2016 bar results have caused such a wave in social media, hashtags such as #Bisaya, and #AtoNiBai were created.
Mindanaoans tweeted their fellow Mindanaoans who made it to the top.
“Congratulations, passers!So proud that the topnotchers are mostly from Mindanao! Time to shine, Mindanaoans!” Demheinzie Villamin, for instance, said.
“Good job, Visayans!” one Twitter user said.
Some netizens even made important observations.
One Junar Novelero, for instance, concluded that the results of the bar exam only prove one thing: That “law schools outside Luzon can also be at par with those (located in Luzon).”
For Dean Joan Largo of USC, it also helped that Justice Presbitero Velasco Jr., the bar chairman, was “in constant communication” with them.
Velasco had reportedly met with law school deans to allow them to raise their concerns prior to the conduct of the bar exams.
According to Largo, Velasco’s actions enabled them to know how to best prepare their students.
