Working student places 8th in bar exams
Balita News Services
Cebu law schools' dearth of bar topnotchers.
Gregorio Diaz of the University of San Carlos (USC) placed eighth
in last year's examination.
He duplicates the feat of USC law graduate Omar Redula in the 1981
bar exams 18 years ago, the last time the school produced a bar
topnotcher.
Other USC law graduates who topped the bar exams that year were
second placer Arthur Lim, who now works at New York city's Wall
Street after studying at the Wharton School of Economics Cojun.
The last time someone from Cebu topped the bar exam was in 1995
when Cebuana Leonor Dicdican, eldest daughter of Cebu City Regional
Trial Court Judge Isaias Dicdican, placed first.
She studied at the University of the Philippines (UP) Dilliman.
In 1994, Cebuano Noel Fernandez of UP Diliman placed first.
Three Cebuanos from the Ateneo de Manila University (AdeMU) also
topped the 1997 exam.
In all these cases, however, it is only Diaz who finished his law
studies in Cebu City.
As of now, Diaz said he wants to join the Public Attorney's Office
(PAO) than work for a law firm.
He will decide, however, on the first week of May, he added.
"But I prefer to join PAO because you have broader experience
there. You can handle big and lesser cases, but in big law firms you
are assigned to handle lesser cases," he said.
A certified public accountant, Diaz said his background in
accountancy helped him a lot in hurdling the exam.
"I did not aim to top, only to pass. But I tried to cover all the
topics during the bar review," he said.
USC College of Law Dean Gabriel Ingles, who was Diaz's
constitutional law teacher recalled: "I was impressed by his way of
answering and analyzing questions. He is direct-to-the-point and has
good command of the language."
"I then said to myself he has the essential qualities of a
topnotcher," Ingles added.
Cebu has four schools offering law studies: USC, University of the
Visayas (UV), USJR and the Southwestern University.
For UV College of Law dean Amadeo Seno Sr. said the last time his
alma mater produced a bar topnotcher was in 1974 when Emmanuel
Pacquiao, now Sun*Star Daily Cebu personnel manager, placed third.
Since then, USC only produced top 20s.
Born on Dec. 2, 1970, Goli, as Diaz is fondly called by his
friends, graduated valedictorian from elementary at the Leyte Central
School.
The youngest of six, Diaz graduated with honors at the Divine Word
College-Tacloban in high school.
He finished accountancy magna cum laude in 1992 at USC.
Diaz had his review at San Beda College from March to Sept. 1998.
His father is a former Commission on Audit employe and his mother
is a retired midwife. (PNA) jv/wpt/EB/ad
PNA 04080659