Wrong list of Bar exam passers breaks 2nd placer’s mom’s heart

Thank God, I was looking at the wrong list. This was what ran through the head of Julita Tapic after finally confirming that her daughter Charlene Mae Tapic not only passed the 2009 Bar exams, but also landed in second place.

Just minutes before the good news arrived, Julita's dreams for her daughter teetered on the verge of collapse when a quick scan of a Bar exam passers list they obtained online Friday night did not yield the name "Charlene Mae Tapic." "Noong binuksan ang Internet ng anak ko... naiyak ako, wala ang pangalan niya. Talagang nag-cry ako. Kasi ang hirap talaga sa amin," Julita told GMA News, her voice once more breaking. (When we opened the Internet, I was dismayed, her name was missing. I really cried. That's because it's really difficult for us) As it turned out, the Tapics were looking at an old list of successful Bar examinees in 2008. They would later view the actual list of the 2009 passers. Julita's daughter was only one of the 1,451 examinees who passed last September's Bar examinations and one of five women who emerged on the Top 10 list. As early as now, Charlene Mae has her sights on one goal: to become a member of the Public Attorney's Office, an attached agency of the Department of Justice that gives free legal services to underprivileged people. "[I like] doing public service," Charlene Mae told GMA News on Saturday morning. A portion of her interview was aired on QTV's noontime newscast, Balitanghali. Unlike some Bar hopefuls who staked out at the Supreme Court in Manila to await the results, the Tapics like many other families opted to stay at home and rely on the Internet for the list. Bar first placer Reinir Paul Yebra, who is Tapic's classmate at San Beda, likewise chose not to jostle with other expectant examinees for a good viewing position in front of the Supreme Court building where the list was projected on several white screens outside. Yebra said while he really aspired to pass the Bar, he did not set his expectations as high as wanting to top the list. Without realizing it, he also became the first male in the last three years to top the Bar. [See: After 3 years, men back on top in 2009 Bar exams] "When I was reviewing, my mindset was gusto kong pumasa sa Bar. Iyon lang ang goal ko (I want to pass the Bar. That was my only goal)," said Yebra, whose childhood dream was to become a lawyer. He said he was offering the feat he achieved to God and his school. Edna Herrera-Batacan, Yebra's professor in law school, said she and her colleagues expected him to emerge at the top of the list since he was the valedictorian of his class. Meanwhile, third placer John Paul Lim of the Ateneo Law School also told GMA News that he had an inkling he would make it to the Top 10 but did not expect it "to be as high as [the top] three." Minutes after the list was released, Lim told GMANews.TV over the phone how difficult it was to be at the edge of his seat for more than three hours, waiting for the results. The Supreme Court—which administers the Bar exams every September—earlier announced that the names of passers would be available to the public by 6 p.m. Friday. Several hours later, the SC still pushed back the release by an hour and a half to 7:30 p.m. The release would ultimately get delayed for another two hours, with the SC citing a delay in the encoding process—a task that involves matching the numbers assigned to the test papers to the names of the examinees. “I feel ecstatic… The more than three hours of waiting for the results was really bad. The results should have been released earlier, but it’s all good now," Lim said. — LBG/JV,GMANews.TV