METRO Manila law schools have shocked and awed by the recent Visayan blitzkrieg. We are on a roll for two years running.
For the 2017 bar exams, Mark John Simondo aced the 2017 Bar Examinations. He topped the Bar with a grade of 91.05 percent, the first graduate from a Bacolod-based law school, the University of St. La Salle.
In 2016, Karen Mae Calam from University of San Carlos in Cebu ranked first in the exams garnering 89.05 percent rating.
Previously, Metro Manila law schools consistently dominated bar examinations, occupying the top 10 passers.
In 2016, the examinees who placed in the top 10 came from promdis mainly in the Visayas. Eight are from schools based in the Visayas -- four from the University of San Carlos in Cebu City, three from Silliman University in Dumaguete City, and one from San Agustin University in Iloilo City.
In 2017, Metro Manila schools somewhat recovered their composure where four landed in the top 10 slots. Surprisingly, none from the University of the Philippines and Ateneo de Manila made it to this upper tier of board bar passers.
In 2016, rumors from Manila-based schools tried to explain the losses, from insinuations of leakage, and the spread of fake news that the questions were written in Cebuano, which explains the dominance of Cebuao-speaking examinees.
Many of their mentors are homegrown. Meaning, Visayan law professors are teaching fellow Visayan teachers in Visayan soil.
After the Bar, the next challenge is to find them jobs here in Visayan. Otherwise, having won victory on Visayan soil, they might lose in the battle of keeping home-grown talents to the big city, perceived as a gold mine for lawyering.
(bqsanc@yahoo.com)
