Be champions of the poor, new lawyers urged

Raoul Angelo Atadero of the Ateneo de Manila University topped the examinations with a rating of 85.536 percent.

An official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ (CBCP) social arm on Friday challenged the country’s nearly 2,000 new lawyers to become  champions of the rights of the poor.

“This is a good opportunity to call on our new lawyers to really become advocates of positive change and not just to earn money,” according to Fr. Edu Gariguez, executive secretary of the CBCP National Secretariat for Social Action (Nassa) over Church-run Radio Veritas.

The priest posed the challenge a few days after the Supreme Court released the names of the successful bar examinees, who took the test that had a new format of multiple choice questions.

Of the 6,200 law graduates who took the exams for four consecutive Sundays in November last year, 1,913 passed. The figure represented a national passing percentage of 31.94 percent– the highest in the last decade. The passing rate was  32.89 in 2001.

Raoul Angelo Atadero of the Ateneo de Manila University topped the examinations with a rating of 85.536 percent, followed by Luz Denielle Bolong, also of Ateneo, with a score of 84.65 percent.

While noting that the law profession promises a lucrative career, Gariguez said he was still hoping for “alternative lawyers” willing to serve the interests of the country’s poor and marginalized sector.

“They should not just serve the interests of big time corporations and politicians to make a profit,” he added, stressing that there were many Filipinos seeking justice in the country but cannot access legal assistance due to lack of financial capabilities.

He also said that “nothing could be nobler” for lawyers than serving their poor neighbors.

Raoul Angelo Atadero of the Ateneo de Manila University topped the examinations with a rating of 85.536 percent.