THE COLLEGE OF LAW
The preservation of high ideals has always been-in the history of every institution-a glorious tradition. This is so because it is in this intellectual inheritance where the worth of a college is put into test. Thus, the College of Law of the University of Manila can be mightily proud of her past which is studded with meritorious achievements.
On March 12, 1919, the College of Law was organized and was given government recognition on November 1, 1920. It was formally incorporated into the University during the academic year 1921-1922. Barely after two years of its founding, the College of Law caught public attention and gained popular acclaim when two of its graduates: Pablo Payawal, who later became a prominent law practitioner, and Jose Carlos, who became a Judge, copped the first and second places, respectively, in the 1920 Bar Examinations.
Three years later, former Civil Service Commissioner Amado Del Rosario and Cipriano Primicias, who became a majority floor leader in the defunct Senate and who was one of the vice-presidential nominees for the 1961 national elections, followed suit by garnering the second and six places, respectively, in 1922 Bar Examinations. And during the three years that followed, the graduates of the college easily hurdled the Bar with 100 percent passing average. This achievement of the college was so impressive that the pre-war Tribune and Philippine Herald newspapers were all praises for the University of Manila.
In 1933, Lope Quimbo, Manuel Alvero, and Guillermo Blanco became the first, second, and tenth placers in the Bar Examinations respectively. In 1936, the college again produced another batch of topnotchers where Teodorico Martin was the sixth placer who became the Dean of the College of Law of the San Sebastian Recoletos-Manila and University of the East.
Again, in 1937, Sixto Domondon copped the tenth place in the Bar Examinations. To continue, in 1938, Emmanuel Pelaez who was to become Vice-President of the Philippines, led that year’s Bar Examinations “elite” by copping the first place. With Emmanuel Pelaez there were also two topnotchers, namely Rodegelio Jalandoni, sixth placer, and Pedro Bacerro, the seventh placer in the Bar Examinations. In the 1940, the college again had a fourth placer in the Bar, in the person of Delfin De Vera.
During the post-war years, the College of Law reasserted its bar supremacy by producing topnotchers. In 1948, Jose M. Evangelista, who was to become ambassador, placed second and established a record high rating of 95.04 percent. Moreover, this feat was duplicated in 1949 by Dominador R. Aytona who also captured the second place. Senator Aytona became a vice-presidential nominee in 1961 under the Nacionalista Party banner. Two years later, in 1951, Vicente Acsay kept up the excellent performance of the college by notching the first place in the Bar Examinations. The good showing of the college continued, for in 1953, Leonardo Amores, who was to become the illustrious faculty member of the college hit the same spot with the highest rating of 95.03 percent.
Up to the present year, the College of Law graduates fared very well in the Bar Examinations with ratings above the national passing percentage. In 2006, the College of Law graduates obtained a 75 percent passing grade in the Bar Examinations, again proving the quality of education being sustained throughout the years by the University of Manila.
