Bar topnotchers in the Philippines

From 1913 to 2025, schools which have produced bar topnotchers (1st placers) are as follows: and that he also placed number 1 in the 1940 CPA Board exams which he took while in law school, summa cum laude after graduating from then De La Salle College at the age of 17. This double number 1 feat may never be paralleled. The closest may have been Cesar L. Villanueva (from the Ateneo Law School) who placed second in the 1981 Bar Exams and sixth place in the 1982 CPA Board Exams and Reginald Laco (from the De La Salle Lipa Law School) who placed fourth in the 2015 Bar Exams and second in the 2009 CPA Board Exams. • Carolina C. Griño-Aquino – former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court; 1st placer, 1950 bar exams. Ms. Aquino (who later became the wife of Mr. Ramon Aquino, 6th placer in 1939 Bar Exams) was a special student of the UP College of Law, where she finished her last two years of law school having taken her first two years of law school at the Colegio de San Agustin in Iloilo. Ms. Aquino was advised to take her last two years of law school in UP by Colegio de San Agustin Law Dean Felipe Ysmael. Coincidentally, Mr. Ysmael (a UP Law graduate himself) placed number 1 in the 1917 Bar Exams. Since Ms. Aquino only took her last two years of law at UP, she can't be certified as an official UP law graduate. In the past, non-law school graduates were allowed to take the bar. However, the Revised Rules of Court and Supreme Court Circulars allow Filipino graduates of Philippine law schools (and subject to certain conditions, Filipino graduates of foreign law schools) to take the bar, necessarily excluding non-law graduates and foreigners who have law degrees from taking part in the exercise. While not a guarantee for topping the bar, academic excellence in law school is a good indicator of an examinee's fortune in the bar exams. Ateneo Law School's only summa cum laude graduate, Claudio Teehankee, placed number one in the 1940 Bar Exams. of Law's sole magna cum laude graduate, Florenz Regalado, ranked 1st in the 1954 Bar exams with a mark of 96.70%. The record is the highest average in the Philippine Bar Examinations, to date. Regalado later served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. The UP College of Law (which has yet to produce a summa cum laude graduate) had five of its seventeen magna cum laude graduates (the College of Law first conferred the honor to Rafael Dinglasan in 1925 and, to date, last conferred the same honor to Dionne Marie Sanchez in 2007) place number one in their respective bar exams: Rafael Dinglasan in 1925, Lorenzo Sumulong in 1929, Deogracias Eufemio in 1962, Roberto San Jose in 1966 and Ronaldo Zamora in 1969. Dinglasan became a Judge of the Court of First Instance of Manila; Sumulong became Senator of the Republic and a renowned statesman; Eufemio became a known corporate lawyer appearing in court; while San Jose established his successful private law firm Castillo, Laman, Tan, Pantaleon & San Jose. Zamora became Executive Secretary to then President Joseph Estrada and Minority Leader in the House of Representatives. ==Bar Topnotchers list==

The Office of the Bar Confidant releases an official Bar Topnotchers list together with the list of names of all successful bar examinees. The Bar Topnotchers list contains the names of the candidates who garnered the highest general averages in the bar exam for that year. The highest ranking candidate in the list is known as the bar topnotcher. The list has always been the subject of much media attention and public speculation. Making a place in the list is widely regarded as an important life achievement, an attractive professional qualification, and a necessary improvement in a lawyer's professional and social status. ::* Postponement of the bar examination to February 4, 2022, and February 6, 2022. ::* Reduction of Bar Coverage to 4 subjects - Laws pertaining to the State and Its relationship with its Citizens (formerly Political Law, Labor Law, and Taxation Law); Criminal Law; Law pertaining to Private Personal and Commercial Relations (formerly Civil Law and Commercial law); and Procedure and Professional Ethics (formerly Remedial Law, Legal Ethics and Practical Exercises). ::*Requirement of negative results for Antigen test and confirmatory RT-PCR test. : Declaration of bar topnotchers is suspended. Examinees who obtain 85% or higher shall be recognized for exemplary performance. Highest and lowest topnotcher grades A standard was created in 1940, when Claudio Teehankee (future Supreme Court Chief Justice), from the Ateneo Law School, got a grade of 94.35% when he topped the examinations. This record was obliterated four years later in 1944 when Jovito Salonga and Jose W. Diokno tied with the highest score of 95.3%. This was the first time that first place ended in a tie. When they took the 1944 Bar Exams, Atty. Salonga was an undergraduate at the UP College of Law while Atty. Diokno (future Senator) was an undergraduate of the University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Civil Law. After passing the bar, Atty. Salonga (future Senate President) went back to UP to complete his bachelor's degree in law, earning it in 1946. The only other instance of a tie at the first place in the bar exams was when Edwin Enrile (salutatorian of his Ateneo Law School class) and Florin Hilbay (an honor student of the UP College of Law) both garnered the same score in 1999. Atty. Enrile served as Deputy Executive Secretary to President Gloria Arroyo and as a Professorial Lecturer at the Ateneo Law School. After another four years, the "bar" was raised a few notches when Manuel G. Montecillo of the Far Eastern University Institute of Law got a grade of 95.50% when he bested all the bar examinees of 1948. The following year, another record was set when Anacleto C. Mañgaser, an alumnus of the Philippine Law School, got a grade of 95.85% when he topped the 1949 bar exams. The lowest grade was obtained by Ateneo Law School's Mercedita L. Ona, 83.55%, 2007, which erased the prior record of 84.10%, obtained by Adolfo Brillantes of Escuela de Derecho de Manila (now Manila Law College Foundation) in 1920. Atty. Ona was just the latest of women's first placers. In 1930, Tecla San Andres (an alumna of the UP College of Law and future Senator) broke the proverbial "glass ceiling" when she became the first woman to top the bar with a grade of 89.4%. Ameurfina A. Melencio (also an alumna of the UP College of Law and who later became a Justice of the Supreme Court) has the highest grade of all-female bar topnotchers in recorded history when she obtained a 93.85% rating in 1947. ==Notable bar topnotchers==

Prominent lawyers who made the bar top ten include: Presidents and Vice-Presidents • Manuel A. Roxas – fifth president of the Philippines; 1st placer (92%), 1913 Bar Exams (UP) • Diosdado P. Macapagal – ninth president of the Philippines; 1st placer (89.85%), 1936 Bar Exams (UST) • Ferdinand E. Marcos – tenth president of the Philippines; 1st placer (92.35%), 1939 Bar Exams (UP) • José P. Laurel – third president of the Philippines; 2nd placer, 1915 Bar Exams (UP) • Elpidio R. Quirino – sixth President of the Philippines; 2nd placer, 1915 Bar Exams (UP) • Sergio Osmeña – fifth president of the Philippines; 2nd placer, 1903 Bar Exams (UST) • Manuel L. Quezon – second president of the Philippines; 4th placer, 1903 Bar Exams (UST) • Carlos P. García – eighth president of the Philippines; 7th placer, 1923 Bar Exams (PLS) • Emmanuel N. Pelaez – sixth Vice-President of the Philippines; 1st placer, 1938 Bar Exams (UM) • Arturo M. Tolentino – former vice president of the Philippines; 2nd placer, 1934 Bar Exams (UP) Supreme Court and Court of Appeals Justices • Jose Hontiveros - Associate Justice of the First Supreme Court; Associate Justice of the Court of Appeals; 1st placer, 1911 Bar Exams (University of Santo Tomas) • José Yulo – 6th Philippine Chief Justice; 3rd placer, 1913 Bar Exams (UP College of Law) • Ricardo Paras – 8th Philippine Chief Justice; 2nd placer, 1913 Bar Exams (UP College of Law) • César Bengzon – 9th Philippine Chief Justice; 2nd placer, 1919 Bar Exams (UP College of Law) • Roberto Concepcion – 10th Philippine Chief Justice; 1st placer, 1924 Bar Exams (UST Faculty of Civil Law) • Querube Makalintal – 11th Philippine Chief Justice; 7th placer, 1933 Bar Exams (UP College of Law) • Ramon Aquino – 15th Philippine Chief Justice; 9th placer, 1939 Bar Exams (UP College of Law) • Claudio Teehankee – 16th Philippine Chief Justice; 1st placer, 1940 Bar Exams (Ateneo Law School) • Pedro Yap – 17th Philippine Chief Justice; 1st placer, 1946 Bar Exams (UP College of Law) • Andres Narvasa – 19th Philippine Chief Justice; 2nd placer, 1951 Bar Exams (UST Faculty of Civil Law) • Artemio Panganiban – 21st Philippine Chief Justice; 6th placer, 1960 Bar Exams (FEU Institute of Law) • José P. Laurel – former Philippine Supreme Court Justice; 2nd placer, 1915 Bar Exams • J. B. L. Reyes – former Philippine Supreme Court Justice; 6th placer, 1922 Bar Exams • Ambrosio Padilla – former Philippine Supreme Court Justice; 3rd placer, 1934 Bar Exams • Cecilia Muñoz-Palma – former Philippine Supreme Court Justice; 1st placer, 1937 Bar Exams • Ameurfina Melencio-Herrera – former Philippine Supreme Court Justice; 1st placer, 1947 Bar Exams • Irene Cortes – former Philippine Supreme Court Justice; 9th placer, 1948 Bar Exams • Carolina C. Griño-Aquino – former Philippine Supreme Court Justice; 1st placer, 1950 Bar Exams • Isagani R. Cruz – former Philippine Supreme Court Justice; 8th placer, 1951 Bar Exams • Florenz Regalado – former Philippine Supreme Court Justice; 1st placer, 1954 Bar Exams • Adolfo Azcuna – Philippine Supreme Court Justice; 4th placer, 1962 Bar Exams • Antonio Eduardo Nachura – Philippine Supreme Court Justice; 7th placer, 1967 Bar Exams • Presbitero Velasco, Jr. – Philippine Supreme Court Justice; 6th placer, 1971 Bar Exams • Antonio Carpio – Philippine Supreme Court Justice; 6th placer, 1975 Bar Exams • Arturo D. Brion – Philippine Supreme Court Justice; former Philippine Court of Appeals Justice; 1st placer, 1974 Bar Exams • Lucas Bersamin – 25th Philippine Chief Justice; 9th placer, 1973 Bar Exams • Francis Jardeleza- 173rd Supreme Court Associate Justice and former Solicitor General; 3rd placer, 1974 Bar Exams Senators and Representatives • Jose Hontiveros - former Philippine Senator; 1st placer, 1911 Bar Exams • Manuel A. Roxas – former Philippine Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives; 1st placer, 1913 Bar Exams • Manuel L. Quezon – former Philippine Senate President; 4th placer, 1903 Bar Exams • Cipriano P. Primicias - former Philippine Senate Majority Floor Leader; 6th placer, 1923 Bar Exams • Arturo M. Tolentino – former Philippine Senate President; 2nd placer, 1934 Bar Exams • Jovito Salonga – former Philippine Senate President; 1st placer, 1944 Bar Exams • Neptali Gonzales – former Philippine Senate President; 9th placer, 1949 Bar Exams • Ernesto M. Maceda – former Philippine Senate President; 10th placer, 1956 Bar Exams • Franklin M. Drilon – former Philippine Senate President; 3rd placer, 1969 Bar Exams • Lorenzo Sumulong – former Philippine Senator; 1st placer, 1929 Bar Exams • Jose W. Diokno – former Philippine Senator; 1st placer, 1944 Bar Exams • Rene Saguisag – former Philippine Senator; 6th placer, 1963 Bar Exams • Aquilino Pimentel III (Koko Pimentel) – Philippine Senator; 1st placer, 1990 Bar Exams • Sergio Osmeña – former Speaker of the House of Representatives; 2nd placer, 1903 Bar Exams • Jose Yulo – former Speaker of the House of Representatives; 3rd placer, 1913 Bar Exams • Antonio Eduardo Nachura – former Samar Representative; 7th placer, 1967 Bar Exams • Ronaldo Zamora – San Juan Representative; 1st placer, 1969 Bar Exams • Prospero Nograles – Speaker of the House of Representatives; 2nd placer, 1971 Bar Exams • Arturo D. Brion – Assemblyman, Philippine National Assembly; 1st placer, 1974 Bar Exams • Gilberto Eduardo Gerardo C. Teodoro, Jr. – former Tarlac Representative; 1st placer, 1989 Bar Exams • José P. Laurel- former Senator; 2nd Placer 1915 • Leila de Lima – former senator; former Secretary of Justice; former Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Chairperson; 8th placer, 1985 Bar Exams • Pablo Payawal - Former Representative 4th District of Bulacan 1935-1936 Bar top notcher 1st Placer 1921 Appointees and career service officials • Jose Hontiveros - Delegate, Philippine Constitutional Convention of 1934; 1st placer, 1911 Bar Exams • Roberto Concepcion – Member, 1986 Constitutional Commission; 1st placer, 1924 Bar Exams • Lorenzo Sumulong – Member, 1986 Constitutional Commission; 1st placer, 1929 Bar Exams • Arturo Tolentino – Member, Philippine Civil Code Commission; former Minister of Foreign Affairs; 2nd placer, 1934 Bar Exams • Ambrosio Padilla – Member, 1986 Constitutional Commission; 3rd placer, 1934 Bar Exams • Diosdado Macapagal – President, Philippine Constitutional Convention of 1971; 1st placer, 1936 Bar Exams • Cecilia Muñoz-Palma – President, Philippine Constitutional Commission of 1986; chairperson, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office; 1st placer, 1937 Bar Exams • Jovito Salonga – former chairman, Presidential Commission on Good Government; 1st placer, 1944 Bar Exams • Ameurfina Melencio-Herrera – Chancellor, Philippine Judicial Academy; chairperson, Legal Publications Committee, Supreme Court Centenary Celebrations; 1st placer, 1947 Bar Exams • Andres Narvasa – chairman, Preparatory Commission for Constitutional Reform; 2nd placer, 1951 Bar Exams • Gabriel Singson – former Governor of the Central Bank of the Philippines; 2nd placer, 1952 Bar Exams • Florenz D. Regalado – Member, 1986 Constitutional Commission; 1st placer, 1954 Bar Exams • Jose Nolledo – Delegate, 1971 Constitutional Convention & Member, 1986 Constitutional Commission; 3rd placer, 1958 Bar Exams • Haydee Yorac – former chairperson, Presidential Commission on Good Government; former Commissioner, Commission on Elections; 8th placer, 1962 Bar Exams • Adolfo Azcuna – Member, 1986 Constitutional Commission; 4th placer, 1962 Bar Exams • Joaquin G. Bernas – Member, 1986 Constitutional Commission; Member, Feliciano Commission investigating the Oakwood mutiny; 9th placer, 1962 Bar Exam • Romeo C. de la Cruz—former Solicitor General; 9th placer, 1957 Bar Exams • Sergio A. Apostol – Chief Presidential Legal Counsel; 7th placer, 1958 Bar Exams • Antonio Eduardo Nachura – former Solicitor General; 7th placer, 1967 Bar Exams • Fulgencio S. Factoran, Jr. – former Executive Secretary; 9th placer, 1967 Bar Exams • Ronaldo B. Zamora – former Executive Secretary; 1st placer, 1969 Bar Exams • Franklin Drilon – former Secretary of Labor and Employment; 3rd placer, 1969 Bar Exams • Arturo D. Brion – Secretary of Labor and Employment; 1st placer, 1974 Bar Exams • Antonio Carpio – former Chief Presidential Legal Counsel; 6th placer, 1975 Bar Exams • Simeon Marcelo – former Philippine Ombudsman; 5th placer, 1979 Bar Exams • Leila de Lima – former Secretary of Justice; former Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Chairperson; 8th placer, 1985 Bar Exams • Gilberto Eduardo Gerardo C. Teodoro, Jr. – Secretary of National Defense; 1st placer, 1989 Bar Exams • Janet B. Abuel – Undersecretary, Department of Budget and Management; 1st placer, 1998 Bar Exams Local officials • Jose Hontiveros - former Governor of Capiz; 1st placer, 1911 Bar Exams • Pablo P. Garcia – former Governor of Cebu; 3rd placer, 1951 Bar Exams • Juanito Remulla, Sr. – former Governor of Cavite; 4th placer, 1956 Bar Exams • Henry Villarica – Incumbent Mayor of Meycauayan City; 1st Placer 1971 Bar Exams • Presbitero Velasco, Jr. – former Governor of Marinduque; 6th placer, 1971 Bar Exams Academe • Joaquin G. Bernas – former president, Ateneo de Manila University; Dean Emeritus, Ateneo Law School; 9th placer, 1962 Bar Exam • Antonio La Viña - former Dean, Ateneo School of Government; 3rd placer, 1989 Bar Exam • Jovito Salonga – former Dean, Far Eastern University Institute of Law; 1st placer, 1944 Bar Exams • Neptali Gonzales – former Dean, Far Eastern University Institute of Law; 9th placer, 1949 Bar Exams • Andres Narvasa – former Dean, University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Civil Law; 2nd placer, 1951 Bar Exams • Cesar L. Villanueva – Dean, Ateneo Law School; 2nd placer, 1981 Bar Exams • Pablito V. Sanidad, Sr. - University of the Philippines former Dean, University of Baguio School of Law; 8th placer, 1967 Bar Exams ==References==