2022 Bar Top 5 were batchmates at UP; topnotcher was valedictorian

MANILA — The University of the Philippines-College of Law swept the top 5 rankings in the 2022 Bar examinations.

On Saturday, the No. 2 passer revealed they came from the same class in the university.

"Batchmates ko 'yung iba pang nakapasok sa top 5," said 2022 Bar second placer Erickson Mariñas.

Watch more News on iWantTFC

• LIST: 30 topnotchers in the 2022 Bar exams

Czar Matthew Dayday, the topnotcher, was their class valedictorian, and 4th placer Andrea Jasmine Yu was the salutatorian of the class, said Mariñas.

Mariñas told ABS-CBN TeleRadyo that he, Dayday, and Christiane Claire Cregencia, the top 3 passer, are all working at the same law firm.

According to the UP Diliman Information Office, a total of 11 graduates from the its College of Law made it to the 2022 Bar Top 30, namely:

• Dayday - 88.8083%
• Mariñas - 88.7666%
• Cregencia - 87.9667%
• Yu - 87.7750%
• Kim Gia Gatapia - fifth place, 87.4250%
• Jayvy Gamboa - 13th place, 86.7000%
• Sharlene Ann Joson - 15th place, 86.5834%
• Luis Gabriel Perez - 17th place, 86.5583%
• Joji Marie Salaver - 23rd place, 86.2417%
• Aaron Daryl Marquez - 28th place, 86.0166%
• Patricia Marie Ignacio - 30th place, 86.0000%

UP College of Law dean Edgardo Carlo Vistan II said they will be formally honored Monday night.

"Magagaling lahat ng Top 10, or hanggang sa Top 30 passers natin. They're almost of equal caliber. And ang ano lang, ira-rank talaga sila based sa score. And nakakatuwa lang at very thankful kami na yung first five of the Top 30 ay galing sa UP College of Law," Vistan told ABS-CBN's TeleRadyo last Friday.

UP ranked third among the top performing law schools with more than 100 examinees.

"In recent years, kakaiba 'tong nagawa nung aming mga estudyante, nung aming graduates. Sa totoo lang, sa kanila dapat lahat ng parangal na ibigay natin, kasama na rin sa mga naging guro nila na sila naman ang naging responsable para maipasa at magkaroon ng magandang scores ang ating mga bar candidates," Vistan said.

"It's a community effort. So, tuwang tuwa ako para sa UP Law community at para na rin sa University of the Philippines community," he added, citing the "bar operations" as well of the candidates' fellow law students.

In an ANC interview Friday, Mariñas said he didn't expect to land on the list of topnotchers but admitted aiming to clinch the No. 1 spot.

"I was praying that I would top the Bar or pass the Bar," Mariñas told ANC, saying one of his professors in law school told them to set their sights on being the topnotcher.

"Para at least kahit nag-fail daw kami," he went on, "'yung babagsakan pa rin namin is a passing grade, 'di ba."

• 2022 Bar exam topnotcher 'shocked': 'Finishing first was bonus'
• 43 percent pass 2022 Bar exams; top 5 examinees from UP

A total of 3,992 out of 9,183 Bar candidates or 43.47 percent passed the 2022 Bar Exams.

This is lower compared to the 72.28 percent passing rate in the previous year but is among the higher passing rates in the past few years.

— TeleRadyo, April 15, 2023