Raising the bar
According to Churchill, a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. Answer: Russia of the second world war. Well, try this: the equivalent of an earthquake preceded by a hurricane followed by a tsunami. Sirit? The 59.06 percent passing rate of the 2016 Bar exams.
Shock and awe. Not since 1978 (at 56.93 percent) have we seen a result so stratospheric. For almost 40 years, the national passing rate would swing from low to mid 20 percent. Last year, it was at 26.21 percent and that was considered high compared to the previous year’s 18.82 percent.
For the first time, the lock of Metro Manila schools on the top 10 was picked. There were years when any one of the big three (Ateneo, University of the Philippines, San Beda – the usual topnotcher suspects) would be shut out. But it has never happened that all three of them and all Metro Manila law school topnotcher prospects ate dust.
The new sheriff. The school that swept the places, University of San Carlos (USC) School of Law and Governance in Cebu, has always been the big 4th. Routinely serving up topnotchers in the past, it used to be called the top law school in the Visayas. Not anymore. Today, USC is the top law school in the country.
Congratulations are due not just to the USC students but to their scholarly and dynamic law dean, one of the pillars of Philippine legal education. Under her watch, USC has been dominating all law school competitions, not just the bar exams. It has powerhouse moot court teams and top caliber debaters. USC is one of the pioneers of the outcomes based teaching method for law schools. There you have it, part of the formula for being No. 1.
Bumper crop. This is also the first time for several top law schools to record a 100 percent passing rate for first takers. This is a distinction peculiar to bar examinees given the heretofore high mortality rate in the exams. USC managed it this year and, among a few others, so did the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM) College of Law, one of the mainstays in the Legal Education Board’s annual list of top performing law schools. PLM Law chalked up their 100 percent passing rate for first takers with an overall record of 28 of 29, including retakers. PLM Law never fails to impress considering that it is a public institution and a local one at that.
Human interest. Hands down, the break out star of the Bar exams is Ramil Comendador, the former janitor who is now an officer of the court. I am proud that this amazing person is a product of the College of Law of the Universidad de Manila (UDM) and, before that, the UDM College of Public Administration. His experience and those of his classmates resonates with the many who shared the dream and had the audacity to pursue it. He could have stopped after his degree in Public Administration. Surely, that would have been enough to assure him a better life. But he dared. They all did. We can only imagine the challenges and sacrifices they overcame to deserve the chance to prove their worth as future lawyers. Truly, education is the great equalizer.
The 2016 results also demolished the notion that only the expensive private universities can prepare you to pass the bar. Law schools like PLM and UDM – both subsidized by the City of Manila – exist to provide quality instruction to the underserved at a fraction of the cost (up to 75 percent less expensive). Indeed, Ramil Commendador’s inspiring story resonates also with UDM’s own underdog narrative.
A cautionary tale? With the mayhem and euphoria, the last thing we need is a sense of security that all is well with legal education. While the results are to be applauded, it remains to be seen if this outcome can be replicated in the coming years. Hopefully, this is not a fluke. Only then we can begin to think about casting off the yoke and maybe dream about more effective and efficient teaching. Indeed, this year’s felicitous results cannot hide the fact that more than 40 percent of the examinees did not make it.
The bar exams has enslaved Philippine legal education for so long. Unlike in other countries where the bar exams are, simply, entry level knowledge checks, here it has become the decathlon of licensures. Imagine, eight grueling examinations over four successive Sunday mornings and afternoons. The exams each consist of approximately 30 open ended essay questions, at least. Unlike the fresh med graduate who could look forward to a relatively easy board exam at average 80 to 85 percent passing percentage, the fresh law graduate, until change came this year, used to stare at the challenge of a 20 to 25 percent rate.
The tyranny of this situation was such that law schools ended up teaching to the test rather than teaching to learn. Most of the four-year course devoted to bar subjects at the expense of being taught skills and other practical knowledge to serve clientele or constituency as lawyers.
We believe. The legal academe has been in a state of flux for several decades now – reform always on the agenda but never realistically attained. But several developments augur well for paradigm changes to come – ASEAN integration; the unending parade of constitutional and legal questions from time of President Marcos down the line; the rise of innovative teaching methods including the use of technology; the rising cost of legal education; the need for attention to professional responsibility.
We are not worried because of: (1) the Philippine Association of Law Schools and its advocacy – relentlessly stampeding the status quo from its inertia in order to assure better chances to students. This respected group celebrates its 50th anniversary this year and continues to grow even stronger; (2) the Legal Education Board, tireless in elevating standards among law schools; and (3) the Supreme Court whose bona fides in the drive to improve Philippine legal education are beyond question.