By Atty. Antonio P. Pekas
I was about to write on the fire in Bontoc, Mtn. Province. But at around 3.30 p.m. last Friday, or about two hours before our deadline, the results of the last Bar exams came out. That was more interesting. After all, the fire was already over and done with, and luckily, there was no casualty, as far as we knew.
First thing that made me happy was the number of graduates of law schools in the provinces that made it to the top 30. There was one who graduated from University of San Carlos of Cebu City, one from Ateneo de Davao and another from Ateneo de Zamboanga. We are missing anybody from Xavier University the Ateneo of Cagayan de Oro.
How I wish there were more graduates from Cebu in that list.
Another thing that made me happy was a graduate of Mariano Marcos State University of Batac, Ilocos Norte who made it as top 12. We used to get a number of journalism graduates from there to apprentice with us. It was not, however, happening since a few years back as it was a lot of added work for me. So we ended the apprenticeship program.
Back to the new lawyers. I would have been happier had there been more graduates from Mindanao. I think the law schools there are concentrated on one side of the island—on the side where Davao, Cagayan de Oro and Zamboanga are found. There should be new law schools on the other side where Marawi and Iligan are located.
Another sad thing is there was no one from Bicol who made it to the top 30. There is a good law school there where former VP Robredo graduated from—the St. Aquinas law school. That was owned by the Ayalas and is now a part of the Mapua group of academic institutions which is still partly owned by the Ayalas.
As far as Central Luzon is concerned, there was a graduate of Angleles University Foundation who made it to the top 30.
Certainly, Baguio law schools were not outdone. An SLU alumnus made it at top 18.
All the foregoing show that you don’t have to spend a lot of money studying in Metro Manila to become a lawyer.
As you can see also, there are topnotch state universities you can go to where (since PU30 became president) you don’t have to pay anything in the form of tuition fees. UP alumni dominated the top 10 and 30 and as mentioned earlier an alumnus of Mariano Marcos State University landed as top 12.
Of course, it is not easy to get into the UP system because of competition. Only a few can pass the UPCAT (UP College Admission Test) and passing the UP College of Law admission test was, and still is, even more difficult. It is not a matter of passing for they just get the top 200 out of thousands of applicants from all over the country. Yearly applicants could reach up 8,000 or even more. That is my estimate.
But there is a big secret I can vouch for in order to make it there—a lot of PRAYERS. Even the worst absentee like me whose absences were counted by the weeks or months per semester still made it.
During the first part of my undergrad, my absences were due to gallivanting or vices like drunkenness. Then I found the Ananda Marga Yoga Society, and the reason behind my absences became extra-curricular activities teaching yoga here and there.
When I went to the UP College of Law, they were kinda strict there but I always found a way not to be in school. I put up a printing press and it was a big pain in the ass due to lack of capital. I was running that press or trying to do business instead of attending school. The spin off of that press is this paper.
How did I manage? Same reason, prayers. From yoga, I learned that meditation is intense prayer. So I would try to meditate in the morning and evening. While on the go, that can be done with the use of our yoga mantra. One word or two of it was already like a prayer encapsulated.
So, for emphasis, that is the secret of becoming a lawyer even if you were the best when it came to absences as I was—a lot of intense PRAYERS.**
