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'Wag ka nang umiyak, pasado ka na' — mini-tales from 2017 Bar results day
The crowd gathered at the Supreme Court paid no mind to the sweltering April heat as Associate Justice Lucas Bersamin confirmed information that had been leaking since late Thursday morning: 1,724 of last year's takers have passed the grueling Bar exams.
Whoops and cheers punctuated the humid afternoon, as a black screen flashed the names of the 25.55 percent of the 6,748 aspiring lawyers who took the four-Sunday exams in November last year.
Among the thinning crowd was a visibly ecstatic woman wearing a gray t-shirt and knee-length denim shorts with a phone pressed to her ear, saying: "'Wag ka na umiyak, tapos na akong umiyak."
"'Wag ka nang umiyak, pasado ka na!" cried Editha, mother to Arellano University law school graduate Zandalee Billones, who was No. 251 on the long list of Bar passers. "'Wag ka nang umiyak, anak, abogado na ikaw!"
Asked where she was going next, Editha said, "'Ay, hindi pa ako nananghalian!"
Bersamin started his announcement a few minutes earlier than the original schedule of 1:15 p.m., but the crowd, some under umbrellas and some-bareheaded in the sun, had been allowed in and was rapt.
Of the 23 best-performing Bar passers who made the top 20, five each were from the University of Santo Tomas and the San Beda College. Three were from the University of San Carlos in Cebu, while the rest were scattered among nine law schools across the country.
In another spot of the SC grounds, photographers were crowding around a couple -- De La Salle University - Manila graduates who took the Bar exam and passed on their first attempt.
Michelle Vale Cruz and Lanz Olives are "negative thinkers," both ready to accept their possible failure, so it was "unexpected" to know they both succeeded, the girlfriend said.
"Ang hirap na na nag-woworry for myself, worrying for him din. Okay lang bumagsak ako basta sana pasado siya kasi alam namin ga'no kahirap mag-study for this. Sobrang happy nung nalaman namin na parehas kaming nakapasa," Vale Cruz said.
Her advice? Start studying for the Bar exam in your first year at law school.
There were unpleasant results for some, as well -- in one instance, a woman approached the papers posted on a board outside the SC's gates, scanned the roll of names, and said nothing. Her male companion put a hand on her shoulder, and they walked away.
'Always move forward'
Another Bar passer, Katherine Macaroy, has been there. A product of the Siliman University College of Law, she said she failed the Bar thrice before taking another shot last year.
"What I told myself before [was] whenever you fall, always move forward even if it means walking on your knees...so be it," she said.
She recognizes the "challenge" she and her fellow new lawyers are up against --- the Supreme Court will decide whether or not to remove its chief justice in May, and according to a former solicitor general, "we can no longer predict" what the same tribunal will say, given its decisions on recent issues.
"I think it's a challenge for us to put into application what we have learned given this time of crisis. We are faced with the proper application of the laws and so we must exercise what we know," Macaroy said.
The 2017 Bar topnotcher, Mark John Simondo of the University of St. La Salle in Bacolod, also appeared firm over his conviction to uphold the rule of law.
"...I will do my utmost to promote justice in this country. At the end of the day, we are still a nation of law and not a nation of men," he said in a phone-patch interview aired on TV.
"The rule of law should prevail. I will see to it that I will do my part in upholding the rule of law," he said.
The successful Bar candidates will take their oath on June 1 at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC). — RSJ/KBK, GMA News
