MANILA, Philippines — The 2026 Bar examinations entered their third and final day Sunday, Sept. 13, with examinees nationwide taking tests on criminal law, remedial law, and legal and judicial ethics with practical exercises.
The Supreme Court scheduled the final examinations at 15 testing centers nationwide.
The first day on Sept. 6 covered political and public international law, commercial law and taxation. The second day covered civil law, land titles and deeds, labor law and social legislation.
A total of 12,029 examinees took the first day of the examinations, according to the Supreme Court. Bar exam chair Associate Justice Samuel Gaerlan said the number increased from previous years.
Gaerlan also said the exam questions remained within the prescribed syllabus.
“It’s reasonable because we won’t take questions that are not covered in the syllabus,” Gaerlan said during a press conference last week.
Women accounted for 6,773, or 56.3%, of the examinees, while men accounted for 5,256, or 43.7%.
Bar head Cheska Pazziuagan said the Supreme Court received requests from mothers seeking permission to bring breast pumps into testing centers.
Pazziuagan said the requests reflected the number of examinees who recently gave birth or had family responsibilities but still took the exams.
The examinations also included 304 persons with disabilities and 285 senior citizens.
The youngest examinee is 24 years old, while the oldest is 84.