The country has 3,992 new lawyers who took their oath before the justices of the Supreme Court (SC), led by Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo, as members of the Philippine Bar on Tuesday, May 2, at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City.
After their oathtaking, the new lawyers signed their names in the Roll of Attorneys, the official of list of lawyers accredited to practice their profession.
The new lawyers are led by Czar Matthew Gerard Torres Dayday of the University of the Philippines (UP). He is the topnotcher with a rating of 88.8083 per cent.
The SC’s public information office (PIO) said the new lawyers were the first batch of successful Bar passers who took their oath under the new Lawyer’s Oath provided for under the newly launched Code of Professional Responsibility and Accountability (CPRA).
In his speech during the oathtaking, SC Justice Alfredo Benjamin S. Caguioa, chairperson of the 2022 Bar examinations committee, urged the new lawyers to be “critical thinkers as well as articulate advocates.”
Caguioa stressed that “even as they are critical thinkers and compassionate advocates, good lawyers must also be true, to themselves as to others, and in that honesty navigate legal problems with creativity, innovation, and a healthy imagination of how a resolution can serve most if not all parties concerned.”
He also told the new lawyers that their “courage must be so fueled by love – of country, of the law, of others – that their resolve to fight on becomes unshakeable, with their conviction running deep, but their love and compassion running deeper still.”
“Good lawyers must know that there truly are heavenly proportions to the toil that we do on this side of life, and in so knowing are moved to submit to Him every outcome, even as we must presently apply ourselves to approximating, albeit faintly, what peace and justice on the other side of eternity can look like in the here and now,” he also said.
In his speech, incoming chairperson Justice Ramon Paul L. Hernando of the 2023 Bar exams – also online and regionalized – gave three reminders to the new lawyers – “aim to be a lawyer of good repute throughout your professional life, keep your feet on the ground, and excel responsibly.”
With the recently approved CPRA, Justice Hernando encouraged them to use social media responsibly and to work gratis or pro bono “at least 1,000 times” in their professional lifetime.
He also asked the new lawyers to “never tarnish the image of the legal profession directly or indirectly, in person or online” and to love and defend the country.
The 2022 Bar examinations adopted a three-examiner policy. The examiners were: Former Commission on Audit and Current Philippine Competition Commission Chairperson Michael G. Aguinaldo, Prof. Dante B. Gatmaytan, and Prof. Reynaldo G. Lopez (Political and International Law with related tax principles); Prof. Luisito V. Liban, Prof. Marlon J. Manuel, and Atty. Divinagracia S. San Juan (Labor Law);
Regional Trial Court Judge Augusto Jose Y. Arreza (ret.), Court of Appeals (CA) Justice Carlito B. Calpatura, Prof. Giovanni F. Vallente (Criminal Law and practical exercises); Former Securities and Exchange Commission Chairperson Teresita J. Herbosa, Atty. Jose Perpetuo M. Lotilla, and Prof. Maria Zarah R. VillanuevaCastro (Commercial Law);
Prof. Hector M. de Leon, Jr., Prof. Avelino M. Sebastian, Jr., and Prof. Amparita S. Sta. Maria (Civil Law I); Prof. Joan A. De Venecia-Fabul, Land Registration Authority Deputy Administrator Robert Nomar V. Leyretana, and CA Justice Jose Lorenzo R. dela Rosa (Civil Law II and practical exercises); Prof. Victoria A. Avena, Sandiganbayan Justice Michael Frederick L. Musngi, and CA Justice Wilhelmina B. Jorge-Wagan (Remedial Law I);
Senior Associate Justice Estela M. Perlas-Bernabe (ret.), Atty. Rodolfo Ma. A. Ponferrada, and Atty. Jesus Paolo U. Protacio (Remedial Law II with basic tax remedies and Legal Ethics).
Aside from Dayday, the four other examinees who got the highest ratings are from UP. There were two examinees who garnered the 30th slot.
The other top performers, aside from Dayday, were Erickson Cayabyab Marinas, UP, 88.7 666 percent; Christine Claire Cregencia, UP, 87. 9667; Andrea Jasmine Ong Yu, UP, 87.7750; Kim Gia Grande Gatapia, UP, 87.4250; Gabriel Gil Manlambus Baes, University of San Carlos (USC), 87.2500; Luigi Nico Mosqueda Reyes, San Beda College Alabang (SBC-Alabang), 87.1917;
Rio Mei Lungub Uy, Ateneo de Manila University (AdeMU), 87.0582; Mark David Quinit Vergara, AdeMU, 87.0083; Jaims Gabriel Lopez Orencia, AdeMU, 86.9001; Reina Marie Manatad Cayanong, AdeMU, 86. 8832; Jether Kakilala Corpuz, Mariano Marcos State University, 86.7500; Jayvy Rosales Gamboa, UP, 86.7000; Ar-rashid Jamni Taradji, Ateneo de Zamboanga University, 86.6833;
Sharlene ann Oliva Joson, UP, 86.5834; Nicole Kate Paronda Tan, AdeMU, 86.5667; Luis Gabriel Arevalo Perez, UP, 86.5583; Eric Pamintuan Exiomo, Saint Louis University (SLU), 86.4918; Louis-mari Rosales Opina, University of Santo Tomas (UST), 86.4250; Kyle Terence Arnilao Viloria, Arellano University (AU), 86.3334;
Gian Miguel Jimenez Balbanero, AdeMU, 86.3167; Jennefer Franco Estabillo, Manuel L. Quezon University (MLQU), 86.3083; Joji Marie Insular Salaver, UP, 86.2417; Jesse Brian Balisi Lui, AdeMU, 86.2000; Alvinson Tumang Dayrit, Angeles University Foundation, 86.1750; Angelika Uy Vega, USC, 86.1666; Chrisha Ver Ramirez Romano-Weigel, USC, 86.1583; Aaron Daryl Pasumbal Marquez, UP, 86.0166; Kathleen Kae Zagala Endozo, AdeMU, 86.0001; and Michael Hofilena Delgado, AdeMU and Patricia Marie Eugenio Ignacio, UP, both 86.0000.
The 2023 Bar examinations, also online and regionalized, will be administered by the SC only for three days on Sept. 17, 20, and 24, also in various testing centers nationwide, with only six core subjects instead of eight.