Former bombing suspect passes bar exams

The nightmare that was his 2010 arrest on bombing charges still haunts 26-year-old Jed Lazaga.

But Lazaga, a law graduate of the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R), took comfort in the fact that he was among the 1,913 examinees who passed the 2011 bar examinations.

“It’s not easy to be accused of a crime. I had to study hard. My name got tainted but it was cleansed now that I passed the bar exams,” Lazaga told Cebu Daily News.

Aside from Lazaga, the wife of Court of Appeals Associate Justice Gabriel Ingles and a Cebu City-based broadcaster were listed among the successful examinees.

In 2010, Lazaga was accused by a fraternity group of throwing a grenade at the crowd celebrating the end of the bar exams outside the De La Salle University (DLSU) campus along Taft Avenue in Manila on Sept. 26, 2010.

He was placed under police custody but was later released since police didn’t know what charges to file against him.

Lazaga said the incident spurred him to study harder. He took the bar exam last November.

“I want to apply and work at the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) as a way of giving back what God has given to me,” Lazaga said.

He said he wanted to defend those wrongfully accused of crimes.

Lazaga was born in Kawit, Pilar, Camotes Island, and transferred to Cebu City where he stayed with his aunt Sonia dela Torre in barangay Labangon.

His 47-year-old father German Lazaga worked at the plumbing department of Pilar town while his 53-year-old mother Expedita is assigned at the engineering department also in Pilar town.

Lazaga, the eldest of four children, is the first lawyer in the family.

He said he  learned that he passed the bar while taking an examination in the Innodata office where he applied for work.

Second highest

Lazaga said he received text messages that he passed.

He said he continued to take the exam even after being asked by company personnel if he would still do so.

“I don’t know how I felt then, I may be too light-headed,” he laughed.

After the exam, Lazaga said he headed straight to the Redemptorist church to thank the Lord for his success.

Lawyers Jonathan Capanas and Mae Elaine Bathan, dean and assistant dean respectively  of the USJ-R College of Law, said they are very happy for Lazaga since his passing vindicated him.

About 31.94 percent of 6,200 examinees from over a hundred law schools nationwide passed the exams held last November 2011 at the University of Sto. Tomas in Manila.

The national passing percentage this year was higher than last year’s 20.26 percent or 982 out of 4,847 and the second highest for the decade following the 32.89 percent in 2001.

However, no graduate from a Cebu law school made it to the top 10.

Top five schools

Raoul Angelo Atadero of the Ateneo de Manila University topped the bar exams with a score of  85.5363 percent.

Fellow Atenean Luz Danielle Bolong placed second with an average score of 84.5563 percent.

The new lawyers will take their oath at 2 p.m. on March 21, 2012, at the Philippine International Convention Center.

The bar passers may secure their clearances from the Office of the Bar Confidant during office hours, Mondays to Fridays, from March 1 to 23, 2012, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., the Supreme Court said.

Alex Monteclar, dean of the University of San Carlos (USC) College of Law, was satisfied that 53 out of 59 of their law graduates or about 89.93 percent passed the bar exams last year.

USC produced bar top-notchers in the past and is on the country’s top five law schools.

In 2010, USC law graduate Glenn Carampatana placed 10th. About 12 of 24 law graduates from the University of Cebu passed the bar exams last year.

‘Something in my name’

Justice Ingles’ wife Ma. Alice said she cried after learning from her mother that she passed the bar.

“I told myself that my husband is a  ‘justice’ but how about me? Now, at least I have something on my name,” she said.

Ma. Alice, a law graduate of USC, said she intends to work in the PAO to obtain experience in handling cases.

Cebu broadcaster Allan Piloton of radio dyHP was also among the successful bar examinees.

He said he had to wait for sometime before taking up law to help his parents send his siblings in school.

For the first time, the SC introduced in the 2011 Bar Exams the new format of multiple choice questions (MCQ), which made up 60 percent of the total score.

Essay-type items, which used to be the sole format, made up 40 percent.

In the 110-year history of the bar exams, the highest national passing rate was 75.17 percent in 1954 while the lowest was 16.59 percent in 1999.

The Rules of Court provide that “a candidate may be deemed to have passed his examination successfully if he has obtained a general average of 75 percent in all subjects without falling below 50 percent in any subject.”