THE light of the north shines bright after a Baguio boy lands on the top ten of the Bar Exams.
Anton Luis Avila, a graduate of Saint Louis University (SLU), placed 8th in the 2019 Bar Exam, ending over three decades of the school's non-entry to the exclusive circle of topnotchers.
Saint Louis University College of law Dean, Atty. Lilybeth Sindayen-Libiran said it was 1988 when SLU last entered the mythical top ten and only got as close to 15th spot in 2017.
"This is the affirmation of the commitment of SLU to academic excellence, we are very happy that Anton made it to the top 10," Libiran said.
Avila is a consistent dean's lister and founder of the College of Law Liturgical Committee, often playing the guitar for causes and for daily mass offerings.
"We (at SLU) try our best to cater to the development of the entire person, we try to expose all students to work for the community," the dean relayed.
There were 100 SLU law students who took the Bar with 45 of them as new takers.
SLU's unofficial count has an overall passing rate of 52.48% for re-takers while the new takers have a passing rate of 73.33%.
Libiran said Avila as a student has always been very humble and inquisitive, often taking the initiative to do tasks and despite his academic excellence finds time to do many extracurricular activities as well.
"He led the 1st concert (for the school of law) and plays the guitar very well, he would often play pag may misa, he was also one of my best students," Libiran added.
The dean said the SLU college of Law is like a family and assists each student from their first year in school to the time that they take the bar exams, taking into consideration their needs and dealing with them on a personal basis.
The SLU law dean advises those dreaming to become lawyers to persevere in their studies have grit and act with humility.
Avila was with his family in the city when the Supreme Court released results, with his father, former Baguio Congressman and Councilor, lawyer Ed Avila breaking the news in a cheerful family moment.
The Supreme Court electronically released on Wednesday results of the 2019 Bar Examination, with a University of Santo Tomas-Legazpi graduate landing on top, besting over 2,000 who took the exams.
The tradition of waiting for the SC to post result the SC compound was scrapped this year due to coronavirus pandemic.
There were 2,103 out of 7,685 examinees who took the 2019 Bar exams passed with a passing rate of 27.36 percent.
Previously, the Supreme Court en banc lowered the passing mark from 75 to 74 percent.
