Eastern Visayas Media Without Borders
by Miriam Garcia Desacada
The Dr. V. Orestes Romualdez Educational Foundation (DVOREF) College of Law has placed among the country’s Top 5 law schools with the highest passing percentage in the 2025 Bar Examinations, based on official data released by the Supreme Court (SC).
According to the SC’s “Performance of Law Schools” report released on January 7, DVOREF posted an 80.19 percent passing rate among first-time examinees from schools with more than 100 candidates.
The result ranked the school 4th nationwide, placing it ahead of San Beda College of Law–Alabang and alongside leading institutions such as Ateneo de Manila University, the University of the Philippines, and the University of Santo Tomas.
Out of 106 examinees from DVOREF, 85 passed the Bar. This made DVOREF the only law school from a province to enter the national Top 5 in its category. The achievement is being regarded as a major milestone for the legal education in Eastern Visayas region.
The DVOREF College of Law is headed by Leyte 1st District Representative Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez, a lawyer and alumnus of the University of the Philippines College of Law.
The 62-year-old Romualdez, a businessman and politician, served as Leyte’s 1st district representative from 2007 t0 2016, and from 2019 to the present. He was the 28th speaker of the House of Representatives, during the 19th Congress, from 2022 to 2025.
Romualdez attributed the school’s strong performance to disciplined preparation, close faculty mentorship, and an academic culture grounded in ethics and public service. “This achievement shows that excellence in legal education is not confined to Metro Manila,” he said.
He also expressed gratitude to the school community, thanking the administration, faculty, students, and parents for their support. “They stood with us every step of the way and helped turn our shared goal into reality,” he added.
The Supreme Court report covers first-time Bar examinees nationwide and serves as the official benchmark for evaluating the institutional performance of law schools in the 2025 Bar Examinations. —Miriam G. Desacada
