MANILA — The National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) has congratulated the new batch of lawyers and encouraged them to always consider legitimacy in their career as dispensers of justice in the country.
“The NUPL heartily congratulates all those who passed the 2017 bar examinations. In the same vein, we also send our sincerest felicitations to those who did not find their names on the list this time,” the group said in a statement shortly after the Supreme Court released the results of the bar examination Thursday.
The NUPL also encouraged the new batch of Bar passers to maximize their practice of law — not just being lawyers under oath but to be morally bound to protect the dignity of the people, the government and the nation itself.
“Redeem what has been lost, repair what has been cracked, and reform what needs to be changed. Lawyer for the people,” it added.
As officers of the court, it said lawyers are the front-liners in the fight within the judicial system, sworn to uphold justice for human dignity and freedom and with this, they should be the foremost purveyor of rights and responsibilities.
“As lawyers, we are duty bound, under oath, to be dispensers of justice and as Filipinos, we are morally and historically bound to struggle and protect our freedom and dignity as a people and as a nation,” NUPL added.
The NUPL is a human rights organization with close to 500 members composed of lawyers, law students and paralegals in 20 chapters nationwide.
The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday announced that a total of 1,724 or 25.5 percent of the 6,748 law graduates who took the 2017 Bar examinations passed.
SC Associate Justice Lucas Bersamin announced the results after a special en banc session.
Bersamin said the number of examinees for 2017 was the highest so far compared to the past two years.
He, however, noted that the percentage of passers this year is lower compared to 59.06 percent or 3,747 out of 6,344 examinees who passed the 2016 Bar Examinations and 26.21 percent or 1,731 out of 6,605 examinees who passed the 2015 Bar Examinations.
The oath taking of the country’s new lawyers will be held at the Philippine International Convention Center at 2:30 p.m. on June 1.
Assistant Bar Confidant Amor Entila said bar passers may secure their clearances from the Office of the Bar Confidant beginning on May 7 until May 31 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (With reports from Red Andador, OJT/PNA)
