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Wednesday, April 04, 2007
2 Cebu grads top bar exams
CEBU CITY -- Two law graduates from Cebu who took the bar exams last September made it to the top 10.
Karen H. Gaviola, a cum laude graduate from the University of San Carlos (USC), placed seventh with a grade of 85.68 percent. Al-shawid L. Ismael of the University of Cebu ranked eighth, with a rating of 85.65 percent.
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View complete list of 2006 Bar Results
Supreme Court spokesman Midas Marquez said only 30.6 percent of last year's bar takers passed the examination, or 1,893 out of 6,345 applicants.
Justice Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez chaired the committee on the 2006 bar exams, which were held last September 3, 10, 17, and 24 at the De La Salle University in Manila.
Gaviola, who also finished summa cum laude in her accountancy course at USC, worked for the Commission on Audit in Cebu for a year before pursuing a law degree.
While she was taking up law, she was also teaching at the USC College of Commerce. Gaviola, 28 and the eldest of five siblings, hails from Butuan City and moved to Cebu in 1996 to enroll at USC.
"I will continue to work in Cebu and teach part-time," Gaviola told Sun.Star Tuesday night. Ismael, meanwhile, belongs to the first batch of 30 law graduates of the University of the Cebu (UC) who took the bar.
He was a full scholar at the UC College of Law, which opened in 2002. He also finished magna cum laude in UC and cum laude in accountancy from USC.
Ismael, who is working in Manila at the law office of the late senator Raul Roco, will get a new car from UC president Augusto Go, said College of Law dean Adelino Sitoy.
Sitoy told Sun.Star the car was Go's promise to encourage the students to place in the top 10 of the bar exams.
"It's the first time for UC to join the bar and it got a topnotcher. But this will be my first and last deanship as I will be retiring to pursue elective office," Sitoy said.
Another successful bar examinee, Raymond Garcia, is also running for public office. Garcia, son of former Cebu City mayor Alvin Garcia, said his passing of the bar exams will boost his candidacy as vice mayor.
"It matches my running for vice mayor. As presiding officer of the council, it is an advantage to know the law. I feel very happy," Garcia, 30, said in an interview. Garcia is also the manager of Sun.Star Cebu's human resources department.
His second cousin, Ma. Esperanza Christina Codilla, eldest daughter of Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, and Erwin Nuñez of Sun.Star Management also passed the bar.
A law graduate of the University of the Cordilleras (UC), formerly Baguio Colleges Foundation, is this year's bar examinations topnotcher, besting 6,345 applicants from different law schools. Noel Neil Malimban obtained the highest rating of 87.60 percent. This is the second time that a graduate in the Northern Luzon law school garnered the highest ratings, following the achievement of Janet Abuel in 1998.
Top Ten Examinees
- 1st Place - Noel Neil Q. Malimban -University of the Cordilleras - 87.6%
- 2nd Place- Debora S. Acosta - University of the Philippines - 87.4%
-Ricardo M. Pilares III - Ateneo de Manila University- 87.4%
- 3rd Place - Erika Ana Andrea C. Jimenez- Ateneo de Manila University - 86.6%
- 4th Place - Maria Charizza B. Carlos - Ateneo de Manila University - 86.1%
- 5th Place - Gina Lyn Rubio - Far Easter University Institute of Law -85.75%
- 6th Place - Anjuli Larla A. Tan - Dr. Vicente Orestes Romualdez Educational Center -85.70%
- 7th Place - Karen H. Gaviola - University of San Carlos- 85.68%
- 8th Place - Al-shawid L. Ishmael - University of Cebu -85.65%
- 9th Place - Timothy Joseph M. Mendoza - University of the Philippines- 85.55%
- 10th Place - Alain Charles J. Veloso - University of the Philippines -85.50%
The 2006 Bar exams mark the second time that the "five-strike" rule was implemented.
This rule limits to five the maximum number of times a candidate may take what is reputed to be the most grueling government-administered test.
The five-strike rule is pursuant to the Court's resolution in Bar Matter No. 1161, Re: Proposed Reforms in the Bar Examinations, which provides, among others, that those who have taken the bar exams five or more times -- and still failed -- shall no longer be eligible to take any future bar exams.
Bar Matter No. 1161 provides for the "disqualification of a candidate after failing in three examinations, provided, that he may take a fourth and fifth examination if he successfully completes a one-year refresher course for each examination; provided, further that upon the effectivity of this Resolution, those who have already failed in five or more bar examinations shall be allowed to take only one more bar examination after completing a one-year refresher course."
The Court conducts the bar examinations pursuant to Article 8, Section 5 of the Constitution, which provides that it shall have the power to promulgate rules governing the admission to the practice of law.
The Rules of Court provide that "a candidate may be deemed to have passed his examination successfully if he has obtained a general average of 75 percent in all subjects without falling below 50 percent in any subject."
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.
The list of bar passers was displayed on LCD monitors strategically placed at the SC front yard near its Padre Faura entrance. (CPG of Sun.Star Cebu/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Bacolod. (April 4, 2007 issue)
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