April 14th, 2023
House Ways and Means Chair Joey Sarte Salceda released the following statement in response to the publication of the 2022 Bar Examination results:
“I congratulate the 2022 Bar Passers for the job well done. The passing rate this year, when the exam difficulty is noted to have ‘returned to normal’ is still quite high at 44%. That speaks to the competence of this batch of test-takers – who have had to study partly under lockdown conditions.”
“I call on the 3,992 new lawyers to consider working for the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the Fiscal Incentives Review Board, the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel, and other agencies of fiscal and economic affairs where legal expertise is needed.”
“I particularly call on them to work for the BIR, where as much as 10,000 plantilla positions remain unfilled.”
“Moving forward, I will work with the agency to move up the minimum salary level for lawyers in the agency from Salary Grade 18, to something closer to the education level new lawyers possess.”
“I am also working on reforms in the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel so that we can attract a pool of competent lawyers to counsel a sector that accounts for P11 trillion in government assets. I am Technical Working Group chair for the OGCC charter reforms, and I am working to cure the defects pointed out in PBBM’s veto of the initial version of the reforms in the sector.”
“Our government agencies need new blood and new perspectives as they seek to modernize. I am confident that this crop of new lawyers – forced to rapidly adapt to more digital and crisis conditions – will be a valuable addition to the civil service.”