Women Outnumber Men in Philippine Bar Exams, Balancing Motherhood

Women continue to outnumber men among the examinees for the 2026 Philippine Bar exams, a trend that has persisted in recent years. As of Sunday morning, September 6, the Supreme Court had registered a total of 11,900 examinees, with over 6,000, or 56 percent, being women, according to Associate Justice Samuel Gaerlan, this year’s Bar exam chairperson. Gaerlan observed the majority of Bar exam takers appear to be women during his inspection of two local testing centers (LTCs) in Metro Manila. "While in our time, you could still count women [examinees], but now women make up more than 50 percent," he stated, expressing both surprise and inspiration at the significant presence of women. Cheska Pazziuagan, who heads the Bar examinations, highlighted that aspiring women lawyers are taking the exam despite their parental duties. "Among the most interesting or the numerous requests that we received this year are moms who would wish to bring breast pumps inside the LTC," Pazziuagan shared. "So, this also shows that we have so many examinees who just gave birth, who are moms, who are wives, and despite those family circumstances and other struggles in life, they still showed up and went to take the Bar." The second and third days of the Bar exams are scheduled to take place across 15 LTCs nationwide on September 9 and 13. The results are expected to be released in January, after the holiday season.