Ateneo Law School honors 2025 bar passers at homecoming and testimonial dinner

The Ateneo Law School welcomed its 2025 bar passers back to campus on 2 February 2026 through a Thanksgiving Mass and a testimonial dinner that celebrated both excellence and the call to service. Held on University President's Day, the evening began with a Mass at the St. Thomas More Chapel, followed by the unfurling of the tarpaulin in the Atrium, and a dinner program at the APS roof deck.

In his opening remarks, Dean Jose Maria G Hofileña congratulated the bar passers and the entire community that supported them—from faculty and staff to campus support services and university leadership.

Thankful that he is able to attend this year's celebration in person, Dean Hofileña highlighted the Ateneo Law School’s continued strong performance, noting its “five-peat” passing-rate ranking streak.

University President Fr Roberto “Bobby” Yap SJ joined the celebration and opened by congratulating the new lawyers—acknowledging that it was President’s Day, but emphasizing he could not miss the milestone.

In his message, he recalled the founding of the Law School and the enduring mission of forming lawyers grounded in justice, ethics, and integrity. Citing performance figures in his remarks, he noted a “98.11% passing rate among the first-time takers” and a “96.52%” overall passing rate, as he praised the community’s achievement.

Fr Yap anchored his message on an Ignatian image of perseverance, reminding the passers that “As lawyers, you will face relentless headwinds,” and urging them to draw from their Ateneo formation—especially service to “the last, the least, and the lost.”

Vice President for Higher Education Dr Maria Luz Vilches recognized both the topnotchers and the broader batch, again emphasizing the community’s pride in the Law School’s standing. She called on the topnotchers to be recognized: Atty Enrico Gabriel Reyes Paguia (Top 6) and Atty Mikaella Franchesca Nuarin Abisana (Top 18).

Her message also extended encouragement to those who did not make it this year: “Failure in an exam is not a failure in life,” she said, adding a hope-filled reminder: “All shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.”

For the newly minted Ateneo lawyers, she underscored the Ignatian compass for legal practice: “The call for you is to be men and women with and for others,” then challenged them to choose a life-giving path: “Choose the God of life.”

One of the bar examiners, Justice Magdangal de Leon, offered a glimpse into the work of bar examination checking, reflecting on the scale and intensity of evaluating thousands of answers under time pressure. He closed with a challenge to the passers: “Carry the torch…,” calling them to be “paragons of virtue, integrity and righteousness.”

Speaking on behalf of the batch, Top 6 placer Enrico Paguia thanked the community that formed them—faculty, staff, administrators, and mentors—emphasizing that achievements in ALS are never solitary.

He described legal formation as preparation not only for the bar, but for practice, reminding his peers that “The law is not just a profession. It is a vocation,” and that it “demands excellence, but never at the expense of conscience.”

He left the batch with a forward-looking charge: “Tomorrow, we return to the work,” encouraging his fellow passers to “think deeply, act ethically, and serve faithfully.”

Dean Hofileña closed the formal program with a toast, framing achievement not as an endpoint but as a summons to mission. “Excellence, when rooted in community, is not an accident,” he said, reminding the new lawyers that success is “an invitation to deeper service.”

One big fight!