Law schools in Bicol mint 296 new lawyers

By Connie Calipay

A total of 296 graduates of law schools in the Bicol Region passed the 2020-2021 Bar examinations, results released by the Supreme Court (SC) on April 12 showed.

In Albay, the University of Santo Tomas (UST) here produced 96 new lawyers; Bicol College, 15; and Tabaco College, two.

In Masbate City, the Southern Bicol Colleges produced six new lawyers, while the Aemilianum College Inc. in Sorsogon City produced 14 new lawyers.

In Camarines Sur, the school administration of the University of Nueva Caceres (UNC) congratulated its 137 new lawyers in a social media post, even as the Ateneo de Naga University (ADNU) took pride in its 26 new lawyers.

Naga City Mayor Nelson Legacion extended his felicitations to the new lawyers from ADNU and UNC.

Congratulations to all Nagueños who took the Bar [exam] and now are lawyers! Especially to the two law schools in Naga – my alma mater University of Nueva Caceres College of Law and Ateneo de Naga University College of Law which got a 100-percent passing rate!,” Legacion said.

Instead of the usual practice of publishing the names of the passers with the highest grades, the SC listed the schools in terms of performance and the names of the top passers categorized into excellent and exemplary without specifying their grades.

“The examination is a feat in itself. Regardless of the result, I congratulate each one of them. To them, I say, you showed courage. You showed resilience. You showed that you can persevere,” Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, the Bar chairperson, said in a statement. (With a report from Bernadine Carretas/PNA-OJT)