Ephraim Porciuncula Bie prepared for the worst after taking the Philippines’ bar examinations in September.
He instead turned out to be the best among the thousands who took the test to be in the ranks of the country’s next lawyers.
“I was preparing na babagsak ako eh because I found (the exams) really hard,” Bie told GMA Integrated News.
(I was preparing for the fact that I would fail because I found the exams difficult.)
With a score of 89.2625 percent, the graduate of the University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Civil Law topped the bar examinations.
Bie said his father is a retired company employee while his mother is a housewife. They were his cheerleaders while he studied for the bar, he said.
He is the first lawyer in his family.
Bie said he planned to stay in the law firm where he is currently employed.
“I plan to gain as much experience and learn from the best lawyers,” Bie said.
After celebrating with his family, Bie attended the celebration hosted by the UST Faculty of Civil Law.
According to The Varsitarian, UST’s student publications, the festivities included dinner and fireworks.
There was also a mass.
In a social media post, UST Civil Law Dean Nilo Divina congratulated Bie for ending a 23-year drought.
“Let us savor this moment because today you made history. While we had our own fair share of bar topnotchers the past decade, this is the first time in 23 years that we placed first,” Divina said
He also congratulated another Thomasian law graduate Pio Vincent Buencamino who placed 8th in the Bar exams. —NB, GMA Integrated News
