Let’s be fair to all bar examinees

Let’s be fair to all bar examinees and call spade a spade, this time.

It’s not fair and proper to hear that about 900 of the 3,962 passers in the 2024 bar exam were “pasang awa.” 

There is no such animal as “pasawang awa” in the bar exam. Every examinee, in fact, deserves to pass given their sacrifices and dedication that no ordinary examinee in any other exams can match. 

Let’s not misinterpret Bar Committee chair Associate Justice Mario Lopez’s words when he elucidated that “they allowed 900 more passers because the country needs more lawyers especially in the countryside” and “instead of 75, which I proposed, the good (Supreme Court) justices—headed by the chief justice—voted unanimously to adopt a grade of 74 as a passing grade.” 

Congratulations to all the 10,387 examinees.