FEATURE: Double bar triumph: Isabela father and daughter story of passing the 2025 Bar Examinations

Cauayan, Isabela – When the results of the 2025 Bar Examinations were released, a wave of joy, relief, and pride swept through a family in Isabela as a father and his daughter discovered that they had both passed—marking a rare and inspiring shared achievement.

The 2025 Bar Examinations, administered nationwide by the Supreme Court, drew thousands of law graduates aspiring to join the country’s legal profession. Out of 11,420 examinees who completed all three days of the exam, 5,594 successfully passed, resulting in a 48.98% passing rate—an indicator of the exam’s difficulty and the determination required to succeed.

Among the successful examinees were a father-and-daughter duo from Isabela, who made headlines for their remarkable feat. Atty. Ferdinand Narciso passed the Bar on his fifth attempt, while his daughter, Mary Joyce Narciso, cleared the exam on her first try after graduating from the University of the Philippines Diliman. Their simultaneous success not only brought immense joy to their family but also stood as a testament to perseverance, hard work, and mutual support.

In an interview with GURU Press, Atty. Ferdinand Narciso shared his journey toward becoming a lawyer, noting that it took him several attempts before finally passing the Bar Examinations—largely due, he said, to challenges with his penmanship.

“You know, I actually failed four times—those were the years when the exam was still handwritten. One of my biggest challenges then was the bar examiner’s appreciation of my penmanship. Personally, I can’t even understand my own handwriting, as affirmed by my colleagues at work. Especially inside the testing center, the pressure and nervousness make it even worse, and that may have been one of the reasons I struggled,” Narciso said.

He admitted that there were moments when he nearly gave up on his dream of becoming a lawyer after repeated failures. However, he reminded himself that “a quitter never wins,” urging aspiring lawyers to cling to their dreams and never lose faith in themselves.

“I always believe that lawyering is either by choice or by chance, and I prefer that enrolling in law school should be by choice. The foundation of that choice is interest. If you do not have interest in what you are doing, I think it will be difficult to adjust,” Narciso added.