UST graduate tops Bar exams, commits to serve the people

University of Santo Tomas law graduate Ephraim Porciuncula Bie, this year’s Bar exam topnotcher, said being a lawyer was his childhood dream as it will allow him to “serve the people as much as I can.”

“[I want to] serve the people as much as I can, to give back to the community, to use the legal knowledge and expertise I gained from my alma mater, UST, for the rule of law, for justice,” Bie said in an interview with ANC.

Topping the exam, however, came as “100 percent a shock.”

“I wanted to be a lawyer for as long as I can remember… [but] I didn’t even expect to pass… It was difficult for me, that’s why I was scared I would fail the Bar,” he said.

With a grade of 89.2625 percent, Bie, who works for a law firm, bested 3,811 other Bar passers.

“My mother actually jumped for joy and cried. I was very ecstatic,” he said.

“We were praying for it, especially [my mother]. It’s a culmination of hard work and prayers,” he said.

The UST Civil Law Student Council congratulated Bie for his achievement.

“You have made the whole UST Community proud!” the council said in a statement.

UST’s Faculty of Civil Law also feted the 113 new Thomasian lawyers, saying their hard work and commitment have paid off.

“May you continue to serve our countrymen with competence, compassion, and commitment. Your success symbolizes a new hope for a better future for the people in the pursuit of justice. You have finally conquered the Bar, now is the time to conquer the legal profession.”

Bie was followed by Mark Josel Padual Vivit from the Ateneo de Manila University with a score of 89.125 percent.

Vivit said he was watching on YouTube the live announcement of the Bar results with his parents.

“We were screaming, crying and hugging each other after hearing my name,” he said, describing the feeling of passing the Bar and clinching the second top spot as “surreal.”

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