Updated as of 6:30 p.m.
A FACULTY of Arts and Letters (AB) alumnus topped this year’s Bar examinations, the first Thomasian to obtain the highest score in the test after 21 years.
Ephraim Bie, who finished his journalism degree in 2015, led the new batch of lawyers with an 89.26% rating, the Supreme Court announced on Tuesday, Dec. 5. He finished his juris doctorate degree magna cum laude at the UST Faculty of Civil Law in 2023.
The last time a Thomasian topped the Bar exam was in 2002, when legal management alumna and civil law graduate Arlene Maneja placed first with a 92.90% rating.
Bie was an issues writer of The Flame during the publication year 2013-2014.
Three other Artlets alumni were also among the 20 highest Bar exam scorers.
Political science graduate Mark Josel Vivit, who completed his law degree at the Ateneo De Manila University, landed on the second spot, while legal management alumnus David Flores, who finished juris doctor at the De La Salle University, ranked fifth.
Another Thomasian, Pio Vincent Buencamino, ranked eighth with an 88.25% rating. He graduated at the College of Nursing in 2016.
Rockylle Dominique Balisong, a political science alumnus who graduated in 2018, placed 18th with a rating of 87.74%.
The University emerged as the fifth top-performing school after posting an average of 85.25% passing rate and producing 104 new lawyers.
More than a third or 3,812 out of 10,387 examinees passed the 2023 Bar examinations. This year’s national passing percentage was 36.67%, lower than last year’s 43.47% or 3,992 out of 9,183 test takers. F – Mari Ymanuel Roxas with reports from John Martin Revilla
