Two Cebu grads top Bar exam

CEBU, Philippines - Two graduates from Cebu are among the top 10 examinees that got the highest scores in the 2013 Bar Examinations.

Tercel Maria Mercado-Gephart of the University of San Carlos placed fifth with 83.90 percent while Manuel Elijah Sarausad of the University of Cebu placed sixth with 83.80 percent. Both are married.

The others in the top 10 include Nielson Pangan from the University of the Philippines, 85.80% (first), Mark Xavier D. Oyales from UP and Dianna Louise Wilwayco from Ateneo de Manila University, 85.45% (second), Rudy Ortea from University of Batangas, 84.20% (third), Eden Catherine Mopia, UP, 84.05% (fourth), Place Katrine Paula Suyat, San Beda College-Manila, 83.75% (seventh), Michael Tiu Jr, UP, 83.70% (eighth), Marjorie Ivory Fulgueras, ADMU, 83.65% (ninth), and Cyril Arnesto, UP, 83.60% (10th).

Gephart, 28, says she never expected to be in the top 10 because she did not graduate law school with honors and she was never in the Dean’s List in her undergraduate years.

“I received a phone call from  papa informing me that I was top five… unbelievable…I kept on searching on the website for the top 10 but I couldn’t find it…until my friends and Ma’am (USC College of Law Dean Joan Largo) texted and called me to say congratulations,” Gephart said.

She said it was her father who motivated her to follow the path she wanted.

“Pick what you want…not want for money… because if it’s your passion, money will follow,” she quoted her father as saying.

Gephart said she was in high school when she started taking interest in the law and her fondness in debate fueled this interest. She graduated from the Cebu City National Science High School and earned her Management Economics degree from the Ateneo de Manila University.

The road to the bar wasn’t that smooth for her, she shares, because not only was memorizing not her strongest point she was also pregnant during that time. She took the exams on the seventh month through her pregnancy. She said Remedial Law was the most challenging subject for her and the best technique she found to remedy her struggle with memorizing was listening to audio discussions.  

Now, married for two years to her husband Carl and enjoying their two-month-old baby, Gephart said she would focus on their real estate and auto repair businesses for now. She is, however, not closing her doors to teaching opportunities and public service. 

Out of the 58 examinees admitted to take the bar exams from USC, 47 or 81.03 percent passed.

Meanwhile, Sarausad’s reaction to the announcement wasn’t that different from Gephart’s.

“I couldn’t believe it and I was surprised and very happy…I thank the Lord,” he said.

He said he was in Medellin town for an outreach program yesterday and it was his wife, Liezel, who informed him about the results. He was with an organization from the United States that was bringing help to survivors of typhoon Yolanda.

Before he entered law school, Sarausad earned his Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy degree from the University of San Carlos (USC). His secrets during the review period – hard work and prayers.

 He teaches at this point in time, but intends to practice his profession fully after he takes his oath next month. He and his wife have two children, ages five and seven.

Atty. Baldomero Estenzo, dean of the UC College of Law, said Sarausad is welcome to teach in the university if he chooses to.

Sarausad graduated cum laude and, in 2011, he and his team won the National Moot Court Competition in International Humanitarian Law in Manila, defeating students from 16 other law schools. UC became the representative of the Philippines in the Asia Pacific Regional Finals in Hong Kong in 2012 and made it to semifinals.

Public figures

Three public figures also passed the 2013 bar exams – Mandaue City Treasurer Regal Oliva, Cebu City Accountant (OIC) Mark Solomon, and Cebu City Medical Center Personnel Services head Rey Chris Panugaling.

Oliva said it was not easy juggling law school and his work in Mandaue City.

“Countless of sleepless nights, hundreds cups of coffee, liters of energy drink…laklakon na nako tanan just to finish my reading materials, kadug sad nako ang  ‘law books’ busa wa koy lovelife for the past four years,” Oliva said in jest.

He and Solomon were classmates at USC.

Mayor Michael Rama, himself a lawyer, congratulated Solomon and Panugaling’s efforts, saying “Hard work is the most important thing when you are reviewing and a big factor for success.”

A total of 1,174 law graduates passed last year’s Bar exams that reverted to the predominantly essay-type format.

Associate Justice Arturo Brion, chairman of the 2013 committee on Bar examinations, said the passers constitute 22.18 percent of the 5,292 examinees that took the four-Sunday exams at the University of the Sto. Tomas in October last year.

This percentage of successful examinees is higher than the 17.76 percent who passed the 2012 examinations, where only 949 of a total of 5,343 examinees passed the predominantly multiple choice question-type format.

Brion said they adjusted the passing average from 75 percent to 73 for “various considerations.”

“We also looked at the level of difficulty and the type of exam we gave. Many of our candidates have problems with MCQ (multiple choice)-type questions but generally they did well in essay questions,” Brion said in a news briefing. – Mylen P. Manto, Flor Z. Perolina and Kristine B. Quintas/JMO