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About 30.6 percent or 1,893 out of a record-high 6,187 examinees passed the 2006 bar examinations, led by a law graduate of the University of the Cordilleras (formerly Baguio Colleges Foundation), Noel Neil Malimban, who topped it with a grade of 87.6 percent, radio station dzBB reported.

Deborah Acosta of the University of the Philippines and Ricardo Pilares of the Ateneo de Manila University tied for second with an 87.4 grade.Erika Ana Andrea Jimenez of the Ateneo de Manila University placed third at 86.60 and Maria Charizza Carlos also from the Ateneo de Manila University was fourth at 86.10.Those who placed fifth to tenth were Gina Lyn Rubio (Far Eastern University, 85.75), Anjuli Larla Tan (Dr Vicente Orestes Romualdez Educational Foundation Inc, 85.70), Karen Gaviola (University of San Carlos, 85.68), Al-Shwaid Ismael (University of Cebu, 85.65), Timothy Joseph Mendoza (University of the Philippines, 85.55), and Alain Charles Deloso (University of the Philippines, 85.50).Malimban is the second student from the University of the Cordilleras to top the bar. Janet Abuel did it in 1998 with a 91.80 percent grade when the school was still known as the Baguio Colleges Foundation.

Examinees had swamped the grounds of the Supreme Court in Manila, all eagerly awaiting the release of the official list of bar passers. Supreme Court Justice Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez chaired the 2006 bar examinations committee. The exams were held over four days in September 2006.Last year, only 27.22 percent or 1,526 out of 5,607 examinees from about 100 law schools nationwide hurdled the 2005 bar exams; 31.61 percent or 1,659 out of 5,249 in 2004; 20.71 percent or 1,108 out of 5,349 in 2003; 19.68 percent or 917 out of 4,659 in 2002; 32.89 percent or 1,266 out of 3,849 in 2001; and 20.84 percent or 979 out of 4,698 in 2000.

The Supreme Court said that the 2006 bar exams also mark the second time that the “five-strike" rule is being implemented. The rule limits to five the maximum number of times a law graduate may take the test. 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 percent in any subject." In determining the average, subjects in the examinations are given the following relative 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.In recent years, examinees from just a few law schools have alternately ranked as bar topnotchers.

In 2005, Joan A. De Venecia of the University of the Philippines topped the bar examinations with a grade of 87.20.The University of the Philippines also topped the bar in 2004 with January A Sanchez (87.45 grade), and in 2001 with Rodolfo Ma. A. Ponferrada (93.8 grade).In 2003, Ateneo de Manila University's Aeneas Eli S. Diaz (88.53 grade) topped the bar.In 2002, the University of Sto. Tomas' Arlene M. Maneja (92.90 grade) was the bar topnotcher. - GMANews.TV