Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Top 10 (Ten) Law Schools in the Philippines


University of the Philippines
The University of the Philippines College of Law is located in the UP Diliman Campus. Established in 1911, the school produced the likes of Philippine Presidents Jose P. Laurel, Manuel Roxas, Ferdinand Marcos and Elpidio Quirino, has produced the largest number of bar topnotchers, recorded one of the highest bar passing rates among law schools in the Philippines and produced no less than 12 Chief Justices of the Philippine Supreme Court.

San Beda College
The San Beda College of Law, founded in 1948 has produced distinguished lawyers senators, justices and judges, and legal luminaries like Retired Justice of the Supreme Court Florenz Regalado. In 2004, the school became the partner of the Philippine Supreme Court and the Philippine Judicial Academy in establishing the Graduate School of Law which offers postgraduate studies on Philippine criminal justice as well as the country’s judicial system. The San Beda College of Law once again got the highest passing percentage in the 2009 Bar Examination at 94.21%. It also produced two top notchers for the same year; Reinier Paul Yebra and Charlene Mae Tapic placing first and second respectively. The main Law School is in Mendiola while the Annex is located in Alabang.

Ateneo de Manila University
The Ateneo Law School opened on June 6, 1936, with Manuel Lim as the first Law Dean. In 1939, the first graduates took the Bar Examinations the law school produced its first bar topnotcher—the late Supreme Court Chief Justice Claudio M. Teehankee. Starting 1991, the school began conferring the degree of Juris Doctor (JD) on all its successful graduates. The JD program combines the core Bar subjects and a masters degree. Today, it is consistent in having the highest bar passing percentage among its graduates and producing bar top notchers.

Far Eastern University
The Far Eastern University Institute of Law (FEU-IL) or FEU Law is located in Sampaloc, Metro Manila, Philippines. Established in 1934 and therefore one of the oldest and most prestigious law schools in the Philippines, it is alma mater to the likes of former Chief Justice of the Philippine Supreme Court Artemio Panganiban, Tomas P. Matic, Jr., Philippine Constitutional Commission of 1986 Delegate Jose Nolledo, former Majority House Leader Neptali Gonzales Jr. and Associate Justice of Sandiganbayan Edilberto Sandoval, to name but a few distinguished law graduates. The Institute boasts of having two Philippine Senate Presidents, namely Jovito Salonga and Neptali Gonzales to have served as its Law Deans. In 2003, the Institute teamed up with the De La Salle Graduate School of Business to offer the JD-MBA program, the country’s first graduate dual program in law and business administration in the country.

De La Salle University
The De La Salle Professional Schools and Far Eastern University MBA-JD Dual Degree Program or La Salle/FEU MBA-Law is a dual degree program offered by the De La Salle University Graduate School of Business in partnership with the established Far Eastern University Institute of Law. The program takes after the double degree programs offered in the United States. The school graduated its first batch of law graduates in 2008. The program enjoyed a passing rate of 77% (ranking number 4 among the law schools in terms of passing percentage) and has produced 24 lawyers to date.

Ateneo de Davao University
The Ateneo de Davao University, like the one in Manila, is a Jesuit-run institution. In June 1961, the the College of Law was established by then Rector, Rev. Hudson Mitchell S.J with an initial sixteen students. The first graduates took the bar examinations in 1965 and as of 2008, the law school has produced 837 lawyers. Among its top ten Bar Examinees are Hildegardo F. Iñigo, Jesus G. Dureza and Ruben V. Abarquez, to name a few.

University of San Carlos
The University of San Carlos located in Cebu City is the oldest school in the country. It was established by Spanish Jesuits in 1595, and governed by the Society of the Divine Word since 1935. According to the Philippine Supreme Court’s Statistical data, the USC College of Law has been consistently in the Top 10 Law Schools and placed 2nd and 4th to Ateneo de Manila University in the 2005 and 2006 Bar Exams, respectively and 4th in the 2006 Bar exams (based on new candidates). Among its famous bar top 10 takers is Jennie Cabading-Aclan who averaged 82.10 percent in the 2007 Bar. According to an article written by former Chief Justice Panganiban, the school is one of the top performing schools in the Philippines for the last 10 years.

University of Santo Tomas
The Faculty of Civil Law is the oldest lay faculty in the University of Santo Tomas (located in Manila) and in the Philippines. It was founded on September 2, 1734, ever faithful to this day in producing practical and top-notch Catholic lawyers. The school has produced the likes of former presidents Manuel L. Quezon, Jose P. Laurel, Sergio Osmeña, and Diosdado Macapagal and six chief Justices, namely Victorio Mapa, Cayetano Arellano, Ramon Avanceña, Manuel Araullo, Andres P. Narvasa and Roberto Conception. The school offers a Masters of Law Degree as well as a Doctor of Civil Law degree—so far the only one in the country.


University of the Cordilleras
To date, the University of the Cordilleras has already produced two bar topnotchers in a span of eight years. The first one was on 1998 and the second, 2006. UC has a total of almost 20 topnotchers since the inception of the university.

University of Perpetual Help Rizal
The University of Perpetual Help System DALTA is co-educational and is non-sectarian learning institution. It was established in 1975 as the University of Perpetual Help Rizal, and later renamed the University of Perpetual Help System DALTA. In 2000, the UPHR College of Law was declared the third best school, out of the 10 Best Law Schools in the Bar. According to an article written by former Chief Justice Panganiban, the school is one of the top performing schools in the Philippines for the last five years.

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