Cebu broadcaster Divine Marcial Flores burst into tears last night.

She read in the Supreme Court website that she was one of the 1,451 examinees who passed last year's bar examinations, considered one of the most difficult licensure tests in the country.

Flores credited her success to hard work and prayers. She had gone to several churches in Cebu and Manila to pray before taking the bar in September.

?If you ask God for something, He will give it because He will never let you down. Perhaps, the Lord has a mission for me. That is why I will be practicing my profession as a lawyer. Nothing is impossible if we trust in God,? Flores told CEBU DAILY NEWS.

A total of 24.58 percent of 5,903 examinees from 108 law schools nationwide passed the exams held last year at the De La Salle University in Manila.

The passing percentage this year was higher than last year?s 20.58 percent or 1,310 out of 6,364.

However, for the second straight year, no graduate from a Cebu law school made it to the top 10.

Lawyer Alex Monteclar, dean of the University of San Carlos (USC) law school, said he satisfied with the results.

?It's okay. We can't be sure (to have topnotchers) because there are 108 law schools in the country. What is important is that many passed the exam,? Monteclar said.

Judge Gabriel Ingles, who teaches Remedial Law and Constitutional Law in USC, said he was happy that 57 out of the 70 law graduates in 2009 passed the bar, or a passing rate of 81.43 percent.

A total of 137 bar examinees from USC took the bar and 90 of them passed or a passing rate of 65.72 percent.

Inglis said the passing percentage was high considering that only 24.58 percent passed the bar last year.

A graduate from San Beda College in Manila topped the bar last year. This was the first time in four decades a the school produced a topnotcher who landed first place in the bar.

Reinier Paul R. Yebra got an average score of 84.80 percent while fellow SBC law graduate Charlene Mae C. Tapic placed second with an average score of 84.60 percent.

Although SBC has consistently been in the top 10 of bar passers, Yebra was the school's first law graduate to top the bar exam since 1967, when San Beda law alumnus and a former candidate for the Supreme Court, Rodolfo D. Robles, was the topnotcher.

That same year, Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Nachura from SBC placed seventh in the bar exams.

A total of 1,451, or 24.58 percent of the 5,903 examinees from 108 law schools nationwide, passed the 2009 examinations.

?I think finally the law of averages caught up with San Beda College. It has been a long, long while since it has had a topnotcher,? Nachura said in an interview after breaking the news at 9:41 p.m. to a crowd that waited for hours outside the Supreme Court building on Padre Faura Street in Manila.

Ateneo De Manila University (AdMU) had the most students among the top 10 with seven graduates, while the University of the Philippines (UP) completed the list with two of its graduates. (See complete list on pages 10, 11, 12 and 35)

The oath-taking for new lawyers will be held on April 28 at 2 p.m. at the Philippine International Convention Center.

The bar passers may secure their clearances from the Office of the Bar Confidant during office hours, Monday to Friday, beginning April 5 to 28, 2010, from 8 a.m. to noon and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Nachura, chair of the 2009 committee on bar exams, said that to increase the number of bar passers, the passing rate was lowered to 71 percent from the usual 75 percent, while the disqualification grade in the taxation subject was lowered to 45 per cent from 49 per cent.

In the last decade, the highest passing rate was 32.89 percent posted in 2001 while the lowest was 19.68 percent posted in 2002.

The highest passing rate was 75.17 per cent in 1954 while the lowest was 16.59 per cent in 1999.

Monteclar of USC College of Law, hailed the decision of the SC to lower the passing percentage of the exams.

?We are very happy that the passing rate was lowered so that many would pass,? Monteclar told CDN.

Based on reports, Monteclar said the 2009 bar exam was manageable compared to 2008. The USC has produced topnotchers in the bar examinations, including fourth placer Jenny Aklan (2007), seventh placer Karen Gaviola (2006) and fourth placer Cristina Larrobis (2004).

Lawyer Baldomero Estenzo, law dean of the University of Cebu (UC), said the 2009 bar exam was longer compared to the previous years, apparently because two examiners were designated in each of the eight subjects.

For the first time, the Supreme Court designated not one but two examiners for each of the eight subjects in the exams. Every subject was divided into two parts with a designated examiner for each part.

A court spokesman said the idea was to make checking faster so the results could be released earlier.

But since the results were not released earlier, the Supreme Court may discuss and decide whether to continue having two examiners per subject in this year's bar exams.

The bar exams are traditionally held during the four consecutive Sundays of September, but the Supreme Court had to reset the last exam date to Oct. 4, 2009 due to the widespread flooding brought about by tropical storm Ondoy.

The list of successful bar examinees could be viewed at sc.judiciary.gov.ph.

Last night the list was simultaneously shown on three LCD monitors strategically set up at the Supreme Court front yard.

The Philippine bar exams, which serve as the licensure exam for lawyers, is exclusively administered by the Supreme Court. It is the only professional licensure exam in the country that is not supervised by the Philippine Regulatory Commission.

The Rules of Court provide that ?a candidate may be deemed to have passed his examination successfully if he has obtained a general average of 75 percent in all subjects without falling below 50% in any subject.?

In determining the average, subjects in the examinations are given the following weights: Political and International Law, 15 percent; Labor and Social Legislation, 10 percent; Civil Law, 15 percent; Taxation, 10 percent; Mercantile Law, 15 percent; Criminal Law, 10 percent; Remedial Law, 20 percent; and Legal Ethics and Practical Exercises, 5 percent, for a total of 100 percent.

The first Bar exams were held in 1901, with 13 examinees./INQUIRER with Reporter Ador Mayol