THE examinee who topped the 2016 bar examinations hails from from Bukidnon.
Karen Mae Calam is a law graduate from the University of San Carlos in Cebu City but she is from the Bukidnon town of Kalilangan.
Calam’s mother, Merlyn Calam, told ABS-CBN-Northern Mindanao on Wednesday that their family was only hoping for her to get a passing mark.
She said they are planning to hold a thanksgiving when her daughter comes home.
Calam, who received a mark of 89.05 percent in the bar exams, is among three Mindanawons in the Top 10. The others are Athalia Briones Liong of the Andres Bonifacio College in Dipolog City (third place) and Justin Ryan Duque Morilla of the Ateneo de Davao University in Davao City (fifth place).
The Top Ten among 6,344 examinees are all graduates of schools outside Metro Manila.
Three others in the Top 10 are from Calam’s school.
Others in the Top 10 list are Alanna Gayle Ashley Khio of Silliman University in Dumaguete (88.95%); Fiona Cristy Lao, University of San Carlos, Cebu City; Allana Mae Babayen-on, University of San Agustin, Iloilo City (88.75%); Mark Dave Camarao, Northwestern University, Laoag City (88.1%); Anne Margaret Momongan, University of San Carlos, Cebu City (87.8%); Jefferson Gomez, University of San Carlos, Cebu City (87.7%); Nia Rachelle Gonzales, University of Batangas, Batangas City and Marie Chielo Ybio, Silliman University, Dumaguete City (87.5%); and Andre Stephen Liu, Silliman University, Dumaguete City (87.45%).
A total of 3,747 out of 6,344 examinees passed the 2016 bar.
Meanwhile, Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III, the 1990 bar topnotcher, called on the 3,747 new lawyers to practice their profession in their home provinces so they could contribute to economic development where it is needed most.
“This is historic… I think this is a positive sign for legal education in the Philippines as a whole, as it will encourage more prospective law students from Visayas and Mindanao to study closer to home,” said Pimentel who, like Calam, hails from northern Mindanao. “I believe that this year’s Bar results highlight the fact that the Philippines is not Metro Manila alone, and that the best and the brightest of the country can be found in the provinces outside the capital.”
Pimentel said he was confident that many of the country’s new lawyers would have plenty of opportunities in their provinces.
He said that while he recognizes that at present most of the opportunities for lawyers can be found in Metro Manila, he hopes that the new lawyers would give back to their home towns, and help the government bring progress and prosperity to their provinces. (with reports from mindanews)
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