ATADERO ON TOPPING BAR: I JUST WANT
TO PASS /U.P. IS ON THE TOP TEN...
MANILA, MARCH 3, 2012
(INQUIRER) By Jamie Marie Elona - All Raoul Angelo Atadero
wanted was to pass the Bar.
"After each and every difficult test, I just wanted to pass," Atadero, 27,
valedictorian of Ateneo Law Class 2011, told INQUIRER.net in an interview.
That's why, Atadero said, it came as a shock to him when he emerged 2011′s
Bar topnotcher. "I really didin't expect to do this well," he said after he
found many of the test questions difficult.
"I'm still trying to process what this all means," said Atadero, who in a
television interview, expressed his intention to become a corporate lawyer.
Atadero got a grade of 85.536 percent followed by another Atenean, Luz
Danielle Bolong, with 84.556 percent; Cherry Liez Rafal-Roble of Arellano
University got 84.455 percent; Rosemil Bañaga of Notre Dame University in
Cotabato City, 84.122 percent; Christian Louie Gonzales of the University of
Santo Tomas, 84.094 percent; Ivan Bandal of Silliman University, 84.091 percent;
Eireene Xina Acosta of San Beda College, 84.066 percent; Irene Marie Qua, also
of Ateneo, 84.057 percent; Elaine Marie Laceda of the Far Eastern University-De
La Salle University Juris Doctor-MBA program, 84.040 percent; and Rodolfo
Aquino, also of San Beda, 83.728 percent.
When asked how he prepared for the exam, Atadero said that apart from the
usual preparations, he really prayed a lot.
"I started studying late April [last year], up to the bar exams in November.
As for special preparations, I pretty much did what all the other students did.
I studied as much as I can daily and I prayed a lot."
But Atadero said despite the pressure of studies, he found time to go out
with friends although "these outings were quite rare".
"I would be dishonest if I claimed to have become a hermit during the time,"
he said.
Asked what he thought of the multiple choice questions-type examination first
done in their batch, Atadero said it was "both a blessing and a curse".
He said that if you were "lucky enough" to identify right away which among
the choices were the correct answer, "then great."
But if not, "you end up gambling on an answer or plain guessing" as there
were some questions where more than one of the choices fit, Atadero said.
"So, it was both easier and harder," he said.
Atadero said his inspiration in taking the Bar was his family whom he wanted
to make proud.
Atadero, the second in a brood of four, would be the first lawyer in their
family.
Asked if he wanted his siblings to be lawyers too someday, Atadero said:
"While I'd love for them to be lawyers too, they'll be the first to profess a
disinterest in the field."
Atadero has been working with Puno and Puno Law Offices while waiting for the
results of the Bar.
UP is in top 10 but he's from San Beda
By Jerome Aning Philippine Daily Inquirer 2:15 am | Thursday, March
1st, 2012
There's someone from the University of the Philippines (UP) on the
Top 10 of the bar exams, after all. But he earned his law degree not from UP but
from the San Beda Alabang College of Law in Muntinlupa City.
Rodolfo Q. Aquino, 64, a native of Muñoz City, Nueva Ecija province, has been
teaching for more than a decade at the UP College of Business Administration and
was already looking forward to his retirement next year.
He graduated from UP with a business degree and was a batchmate of Senator
Franklin Drilon, both of them being members of the Sigma Rho fraternity.
In a phone interview, Aquino recounted how he had wanted to take up law but
could not do so because of financial constraints. He said he learned about his
passing the bar from his batchmates at San Beda Alabang College of Law.
No retirement age Asked what his initial plans are, he replied, "I'm still thinking about it. I
will probably apply in one of the law firms of my (fraternity) brods to gain
experience."
He said he had been invited by the San Beda dean to be a lecturer. Aquino
said he looked forward to specializing in commercial and economic law.
Asked if he thought being a senior citizen would be an obstacle to his law
practice, he replied, "No, even if I'm already old, I can still help the
country," adding, "There is no retirement age in the legal profession."
Overachiever
Aquino has two Ph.D. degrees—in economics (2005) and in operations research
(OR) and statistics (1979).
He earned his master's degree in OR and statistics from Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute in New York (1977) and his master's in economics (2000)
from the same school.
He finished his master's degree in business administration at UP in 1969 and
his bachelor of science in business administration, also at UP, in 1966.
Cyberbully victim
Among those who passed was Christopher Lao, a UP law student, who suffered
from cyberbullying after a television crew took a video of him last year
attempting to drive his car through a flooded street.
"I was not informed about it!" Lao was heard as complaining in the video,
which had become viral.
Another UP graduate, James Mark Terry Ridon, spokesperson of the Kabataan
party-list group, also passed the bar exams.
Ridon is the lead convenor of the #i-monitor, a broad alliance of youth,
students, professionals and other groups monitoring the impeachment trial.
"Does the Chief Justice absolutely think, in his heart of hearts, that he is
serving as a great role model to us bar passers? We think absolutely not. His
defense panel can insist on all excuses and justifications for his actions but
the breadth of evidence presented showing partiality for former president Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo is disapprovingly overwhelming," Ridon said.
However, Ridon said what he feared more was the "creation of an Aquino
court."
The oath-taking of the successful bar candidates is set at 2 p.m. on March
21, at the Philippine International Convention Center.
The bar passers may secure their clearances from the Office of the Bar
Confidant during office hours, Monday to Friday, beginning today, until March
23, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The four-Sunday exams were held on November 6, 13, 20 and 27 last year at the
University of Sto. Tomas on España Street in Manila. The tests were administered
through deputy clerk of court and bar confidant, lawyer Cristina Layusa.
Chief News Editor: Sol
Jose Vanzi
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