THE 2007 bar topnotcher was a nervous wreck when she took the examinations last year, so nervous that she was afraid that she would flunk it.
But 27-year-old Mercedita Ona of Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) emerged at the top, besting 5,625 law graduates from different schools nationwide who took the bar examinations last year.
Ona obtained the highest passing rate of 83.55 percent rate.
Following closely at second place was Jennifer Ong of the University of the Philippines (UP), who got an 83.35 percent grade.
Third place was Maalat Yvanna of Ateneo, followed by Aclan Jennie of University of San Carlos (fourth); John Michael Galauran of University of Nueva Caceres (fifth); and Karen Canullas of San Sebastian College (sixth).
Tying at the seventh place were Cecille Mejia of Ateneo and Sheryl Ann Tizon of UP; Marforth Fua of San Beda College (eighth); Luy Ruby of Ateneo de Davao University (ninth); and Christian Llido of University of Cebu and Vivian Tan of UP, both at 10th place.
Ona, a resident of Quezon City and hails from Batangas, is a certified public accountant working for the Sycip Salazar Hernandez and Gatmaitan law firm, wherein she will soon be an associate.
She took up secondary education at the Notre Dame School in Caloocan and pre-law in UP.
She said she had no particular motivation in taking up law in Ateneo, but instead it was simply something that she felt like pursuing.
"You don't need to take up law to help others," she said.
Ona said she felt "so happy and blessed" that she passed, much more, topped the examination.
She is the first lawyer in the family. She said preparing for the bar was extremely difficult, made worse by a terrible migraine that she experienced while taking the exams in September last year, which made this victory even sweeter for her.
Ona said she did not even want to go to the Supreme Court (SC) to see for herself the results of the examinations for fear that she might not make it.
"It was very difficult. I knew it when I left the examination room, that's why I'm nervous and did not go to the SC and just decided to view the results online," she said.
Associate Justice Adolfo Azcuna, chairman of the 2007 committee on bar examinations, said that out of 5,626 examinees, only 1,289 passed, or 22.91 percent of the bar takers.
The number of those who passed would have been lower had the SC not decided at the last minute to lower the passing rate from 75 percent to 70 percent.
If the old rule had been allowed, only five percent of the barristers would have passed.
In determining the average, subjects in the examinations are given the following relative weights: Political and International Law, 15 percent; Labor and Social Legislation, 10 percent; Civil Law, 15 percent; Taxation, 10 percent; Mercantile Law, 15 percent; Criminal Law, 10 percent; Remedial Law, 20 percent; and Legal Ethics and Practical Exercises, five percent, for a total of 100 percent.
Azcuna said the adjustment in the passing rate was made not because the examinations were "unusually difficult."
"The correction (by the examiners) was unusually strict so that the justices of the court felt there was a need to lower the passing rate," he said.
He noted that the adjustments were made in the categories of civil, labor, and criminal laws.
"There was need to lower the passing grade in order to balance the correction in these three subjects," Azcuna added.
On the other hand, he said the Office of the Bar Confidant (OBC) took time in decoding the numbers assigned to each examinee so as to enable them to double-check the law schools of the examinees, noting that in some instances, the names of these schools are being changed once in a while.
A number of SC justices did not take part in the deliberations because they have relatives who took the 2007 bar exams.
They were Associate Justices Consuelo Ynares-Santiago, Conchita Carpio-Morales, and Presbiterio Velasco Jr.
Examiners for the 2007 bar were UP Dean Raul Pangalangan for international and political law; lawyer Rodolfo Salalima for Labor and Social Legislation; lawyer Cirilo Tolosa for Civil law; lawyer Lily Gruba for Taxation; Court of Appeals Justice Estella Perlas-Bernabe for Mercantile law; lawyer Raymond Fortun for Criminal law; lawyer Sandra Olaso-Coronel for Remedial law; and CA Justice Cristina Estrada for Legal Ethics. (ECV/Sunnex)
