The Dreaded BAR

BAR. Just the mere thought of it makes me shiver and coat. What made me feel that way? Take this picture:

A total of 1,289 have passed the 2007 bar examinations, the Supreme Court announced on Saturday afternoon, making for a 22.91 percent passing rate as 5,626 law graduates from 109 law schools took the bar examinations September last year, reported PDI.

To note, the passing percentage was already adjusted to increase the number of passers. The report continued...

The 22.91-percent passing rate for the 2007 bar would have been much lower, perhaps an all-time low of 5 percent, had the passing rate not been adjusted from the traditional 75 percent to 70 percent. "Due to unusually strict corrections, it was decided to lower the passing grade to 70 percent," Associate Justice Adolf Azcuna said in a press conference.

That's how dreaded the exam is. That is also why BAR is pretty much feared. Imagine the fanfare. It is the only exam that catches mass media's attention from the first day of the examination up to the announcement of passers. Imagine the pressure and the rigors just to be called compañero or compañera or be admitted to the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP). Attorney - just a title added to your name subsequent to passing the BAR. But getting it may mean going extra mile and be a victor. To some, losing courage and despair. To a few, losing their very sanity.

September is one of my favorite months. I was born in September, that's why. Unfortunately, it might transform into one of my "almost" hated since the entire month is for the Bar.

Tomorrow I will be going to Manila to feel the chill of Bar's first Sunday. Last year, I joined the BAROPS (Bar operations) Committee for the last Sunday of the exam. As they say and based on what I have witnessed, 4th Sunday of the Bar is no less than delirious. And that's not an overstatement.

This time around, I will be witnessing how barristers manage butterflies in their stomach, constipation/lbm, death-defying pressure (whatever that means), and so much more. Thanks to the Bar's morbidity. Thinking that I will be taking the Bar next year sends me creeps. Oh my.

Good luck to my friends, batchmates, and other barristers who will be taking the Bar this year. Give it your best shot! Aja!