How four USC law graduates top 2018 Bar exams

CEBU CITY, Phiippines — Preparation, grit and perseverance, aiming to pass, and belief in the system and University of San Carlos in Cebu.

These are the secrets of success of the four Cebuano topnotchers in the recent Bar examinations.

The four new lawyers, Marcley Augustus Natu-el (2nd place), Lawrence Badayos (3rd place), Jebb Lynus Cane (9th place), Alen Joel Pita (10th place), said that they were all proud to call themselves “true blooded Cebuanos” amid their achievement.

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“The new lawyers were all graduates of the University of San Carlos (USC) School of Law, the only school outside Metro Manila that had graduates topping the Bar examinations. Other schools, whose graduates topped the Bar Exams included Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU), University of the Philippines, and De La Salle University. 

Sean James Borja of ADMU topped the recent Bar Examinations. New lawyer, Marcley Augustus Natu-el, who ranked 2nd in the Bar examinations earning a rating of 87.53 percent, is the son of former Mandaue City Police Office Director, retired General Mariano Natu-el Jr.

Marcley said he was inspired by both his father and his grandfather in choosing to become a lawyer.

The new lawyer, a resident of Barangay Cogon Pardo in Cebu City, is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a professor in Accountancy in the University of San Carlos before he passed the Bar examinations.

Marcley said it was a challenge to balance his work and his studies, but he was full of faith that not only he would pass the Bar examinations, he would top it.

“I prayed for it since first year,” said Marcley who was inside the San Pedro Calungsod chapel at the South Road Properties when he heard of the results.

Marcley said that his secret to topping the Bar exams was preparing years before taking it and that the preparation begins on the very first day of law school on the first year.He encouraged aspiring lawyers to study hard and listen to their professors in the class.

“We don’t stop on knowing what the law is, but we go further to understand why the law is like that,” he said.

Retired General Natu-el said he was simply proud of his son and did not pressure him to top the exams, but he prayed that Marcley would get his heart’s desire to top the exams.

Lawyer Mark Lawrence Badayos, one of USC’s renowned debaters who has won international awards, said that it was his childhood dream to become a lawyer. 

He placed third in the Bar examinations earning a rating of 85.842 percent.

Badayos had a successful debate career while he was studying Law in USC and garnered various international awards including the South East Asian Regional Round Championship in environmental law where he was the champion.

“It’s so hard to manage time. The biggest factor is the grit. You just have to know what you want and then go for it and then everything just comes along,” he said.

Badayos said before he knew he topped the Bar, he was praying at the Santo Tomas de Villanueva Parish in Barangay Poblacion Pardo. When the news came to him, he was at a cafe in Talisay City.

He said that his inspiration to be a lawyer was because of the social injustice in the present times. He saw that there was more reason to uphold the rule of law.

“We need more young millennial lawyers fighting for the rule of law,” said Badayos.

Ninth placer, Lawyer Jebb Lynus Cane, said he was simply aiming to pass the Bar exams and did not expect to top it.

He currently works at the Legal Office of the Cebu Provincial Capitol and was surprised of the news that he not only passed the Bar but also ranked 9th in the entire country.

Cane said he was still not sure, which path he would take in his practice but would focus on his advocacy of human rights.

 

Lawyer Alen Joel Pita, the 10th placer of the Bar examinations, was the only one among the topnotchers who chose to review for the examinations in Cebu.

He said that Cebu is capable of producing topnotchers remote from Manila, where the Bar examinations are being held yearly.

Pita said that he used his notes and review books from USC to study for the exams instead of enrolling himself in review centers in Manila.

“We have handouts, we have notes. I relied on those and I relied on the training of USC,” he said.

Dean Joan Largo revealed that USC garnered an 80 percent passing rate for the recent Bar exams.She said that USC would continue to produce more “quality” lawyers in Cebu and would continue to develop their program to reach that goal. /dbs

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