AdDU student lands 4th in 2014 Bar Exam

By ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.
A student from Ateneo de Davao University (AdDU) ranked fourth in the 2014 Bar Exam.
In the exam results released by the Supreme Court (SC) yesterday, Gil Garcia II of AdDU Law School landed fourth place with an average of 84.55 percent.
In an interview yesterday, Garcia told Edge Davao he was “overwhelmed, happy, and grateful” at the result.
“I’m overwhelmed because I did not expect the result. Happy because at last I passed the exam and I will not think of it anymore, and grateful to all, my family, friends and of course, to my school, my professors, and lastly to God,” he said.
Garcia said he did not expect to land in the top 10, having hoped only to pass the very difficult exam.
He said he never neglected to get enough sleep and credited prayer for his success.
Garcia said he is now working with Acra Law Firm as an associate lawyer. He plans to teach if given the chance and to offer public service.
Garcia tied with Mark Leo Bejemino of the University of the Philippines and Reginald Laco of De La Salle University-Lipa in the same spot.
Garcia became a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in 2008 and graduated law from AdDU law school in 2014.
For his part, AdDU Law School Dean lawyer Manuel Quibod said Garcia was one of the most competitive students of batch 2014.
He said the school is very happy because it has been a while since AdDU had been included in the top 10.
“We are very lucky this year in the 2014 Bar Exam that we have one who landed in the top 10, placing fourth,” he said.
Quibod said 23 of the 49 AdDU students who passed. Of this, 21 are first timers while two are repeaters.
The other graduates of AdDU Law School batch 2014 who also passed the exam are 2009 Mutya ng Davao Resci Angelli Rizada, Cherry Marie Delfin, Claire Joy Enirquez, Philip Galagar, Marco Ray Gleyo, Louie Lynne Hao, Francis Mark Layog, Verna Limbo-Cabuhat, Roseanne Lumaad, Normalah Madki, Carell Ryza Nartatez, Raymund Christian Ong Abrantes, Benedict Ontal, Hazel Beth Orcullo, Glaiza May Padlan, Ivyrose Paz, Delfin Suarez Jr., Angeli Kim Taguibao, Andrea Tan, Jonathan John Tay, Francis Earl Anthony Valdez, and Darryl Ritchie Valles.
In its Twitter account, the Supreme Court said 1,126 passed out of the 5,984 who completed the exam last year.
The SC said that the oath taking of the Bar passers will be on April 24, 2015 and clearances may be secured starting April 6.