Feeling grateful and proud being the father of a new lawyer

I cannot describe my feelings when I learned four days ago that my son, John Paul S. Jimenez, passed the Bar. I was in Waterfront Hotel in Lahug conferring with a corporate client when I was told of the great news. I remember when I myself passed the Bar in the ‘70s. I was in Manila then and at noon, we rushed from DOLE in Intramuros to the Supreme Court in Padre Faura just to see our names and shout “Praise the Lord!” Passing the Bar is one of the very important milestones in any lawyer's life. Becoming a lawyer changes the course of one's destiny. It opens a lot of doors and presents tremendous opportunities for growth. It also imposes heavy responsibilities and burdens as an officer of the court and an apostle of truth and justice.

Last year's Bar was one of the toughest, only 22.07% passed and the killer subject was Taxation again. Only 1,800 new lawyers passed out of 8,158 examinees. The number of Bar takers last year was the highest in all history, and so many withdrew on first Sunday. The chairman was a Cebuano, Associate Justice Mariano del Castillo, whose wife used to be the dean of the Law school of Ateneo de Manila University. My subject was Labor Law. I never knew the examiner was Hans Leo Cacdac, who did a very good job in hiding his work as examiner and keeping everything confidential. He was a Law professor in Ateneo before becoming OWWA administrator. He is a man of legal wisdom and unquestionable integrity.

John Paul is a good son. He studied very hard and refused my direct help. I gave him all the books, including the ones I authored. He just studied and studied. I’m very happy for him. Just one day after the release of the Bar results, he got a lot of job offers from a number of companies and some law firms even as he has yet take his oath this June 13. He got married while studying Law and has a daughter, Calli, who has all the makings of an articulate future lawyer. He worked even as he was taking the Bar review to support his family. I’m very glad he now has a lot of offers. He is so independent that he wants to stand on his own.

To pass the Bar is a major accomplishment. The first subject, Political Law requires mastery of the Constitution. Labor Law, the second subject, covers Labor Standards, Labor Relations and Social Legislation and Termination of Employment.

The other subjects are Civil Law, Taxation, Commercial Laws, Criminal Law, Remedial Law and Legal Ethics, and Practical Exercises. USC again got four of the top 10 places, competing with Ateneo, UP, and La Salle. Excellence in the study of Law depends on the quality of faculty, school administration support, and, of course, the quality of Law students. The dean plays a very crucial role. We congratulate USC and its very young lady dean. Kudos and keep up the excellence.