2010 BAR EXAM BLAST: "Fall guy" now a lawyer

CEBU, Philippines - He was once hunted, jailed and wrongfully accused for the 2010 Philippine Bar exam bombing at Taft Avenue near De La Salle University (DLSU), but now that the results of the bar exams are out, he has been finally vindicated.

Jed Carlo Lazaga is now a lawyer who is ready to face challenges after passing the 2011 bar examinations based on the results which was released yesterday afternoon by the Supreme Court in Manila.

In an interview over TV Patrol Central Visayas, Lazaga said his motivation in passing the bar exams, was his ordeal when he was wrongfully accused as the suspect of the controversial bombing incident.

“Mapriso na gyud unta ko ato kung wa ko labani sa akong eskwelahan, (I would have been jailed had it not been for the help of my school.)” he said as he thanked his alma mater, University of San Jose-Recoletos in Cebu City.

He added that USJ-R provided them a good professor when they learned that the bar exam will be in a legal memorandum type.

The purpose of a legal memorandum is to analyze a legal problem and give an objective legal opinion on that problem. A legal memorandum is used to strategize approaches and to formulate arguments.

Lazaga claimed that during the exam, he had some difficulty in answering the multiple choice category compared to the essay type.

 “Lisod ang multiple choice kay kung wrong ka, wrong gyud ka, gamay ra pud og ligas ang anwer gud whereas sa essay pwede nimo ma-expound ang answer nga bisan gamay naa kay points, (Multiple choice was hard because once you’re wrong then you are really wrong. There was also a slight difference in the choice of answers whereas in essay, you can expound the answers and earn some points.)” he said.

When asked what will be his plan now that he is a certified lawyer, Lazaga revealed that he wanted to apply at the Public Attorney’s Office to be of service to those who are wrongfully accused.

Lazaga was initially accused of throwing the Mk2 grenade which injured 47 people with two law students losing their legs.

He was implicated to the crime when his identification card was found at the scene.

However upon further investigation, Lazaga was later cleared. — (FREEMAN)