Bar top-notcher an ex-football player, sets sights on uncharted field

Even in law practice, 2012 Bar top-notcher Ignatius Michael Ingles wants to focus on something close to his heart: sports. "I want to establish sports law in the Philippines," declared Ingles, a 29-year-old Ateneo law graduate who was part of the university's football squad that won the UAAP championship from 2004 to 2006. "I was hoping na magkaroon ng jurisprudence on sports law or cases, laws that would regulate and govern sports law here," he added. Interviewed after the Supreme Court released the results of the 2012 Bar examinations Wednesday noon, Ingles said he was not even aware if sports law is practiced in the Philippines, but added he would be delighted to be its "pioneer." Aside from his UAAP stint, Ingles, who earned a degree in Communications Technology Management in 2006 and graduated salutatorian from the Ateneo Law School, also played in the United Football League Division 2. Amid the gruelling demands of law school, Ingles said he drew strength from his passion for sports. "There were times in law school that I would rather be playing in the football field than [studying] in the library, but it worked out well," he said. Pressure Ingles admitted feeling the pressure of having to perform well in the examinations, believed to be the most difficult among licensure examinations, more so to top it, especially since the Bar topnotchers in the last two years were both his close friends. Ingles, who has been married for three years, said venturing into law practice runs in the family: his father and two older cousins are lawyers. He admiited that the Bar exams, which he took during the four Saturdays of October last year, were difficult, especially with the then relatively new format of having multiple choice questions, a format that was introduced in 2011. "Confusing po kasi. Number one kasi MCQ siya tapos number 2 hindi lang siya MCQ. May essay pa po sa dulo," Ingles said. "Napakahirap po kasi ang dami pong questions. Kunwari sa Remedial Law may 100 questions kami ng MCQ. Tapos yun pala may essay pa. Nakakapagod po talaga saka time pressured," he added. Good news Ingles said he was on his way to hear Mass when he learned about him being the latest Bar topnotcher. "I was in the car... when my cousin called. Then one of my friends called me after. I wasn’t sure if they were telling the truth," he said. Ingles said he only believed the good news when GMA News called him up for an interview "I don’t think anyone in their right mind would expect to top the Bar," said Ingles, who currently works for the Salvador and Perez law firm in Makati. He said he took to heart his law professors advice to them: "If you really want to do well daw in the Bar, you have to start from Day One." "It doesn’t start when you graduate from law school. It starts once you enter law school. You start to train your brain na so that you can do well in the Bar exams," Ingles said. — KBK/OMG, GMA News