MANILA, Philippines – If there is any advice that Mark Xavier Oyales can give to those without the financial means to pursue their dream, it is that lack of money is not an obstacle.

Oyales, who shares second place in the 2013 bar examinations with  Dianna Louise Wilwayco of the Ateneo de Manila Law School, gave this message in an interview with ANC’s Headstart on Wednesday, March 19.

“Your financial condition is not an obstacle for you to reach your goals….You just need grit, resilience and fortitude. You just have to strive hard to achieve your goals,” he said.

Oyales studied high school at St Vincent Ferrer Academy, a parochial school in Babatngon, Leyte, before obtaining a BS Biology degree at UP Tacloban. He wanted to be a doctor but his family could not afford it.

“We’re not rich,” he said.

His mother is a cashier at a bakery while his father is the supervisor of the security division at city hall. Oyales said his parents were content with his undergraduate degree and while he might have opted to start working to help out, he decided to pursue law without seeking financial support from his family.

He thought of becoming a doctor but knew medical school would be to costly, so a college professor advised him to take up law, instead. Oyales said his professor paid the fee for the UP College of Law entrance exam held at UP Cebu, as well as his roundtrip plane fare.

Oyales said Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza and his wife, lawyer Concepcion “Chit” Jardeleza, Associate Dean of the UP College of Law, became his sponsors and gave him a stipend for his law school expenses. He worked part-time to augment his finances.

‘Walk of shame’

Oyales said he initially thought of going on a “bus to nowhere” on the results day of the 2013 bar examinations but decided to spend it in prayer in his parish church. How he handled the initial news of his feat reflected a lawyerly disposition.

While in prayer, the parish priest called him and said he placed second in the bar exams. He decided not to believe him at first, since his contact at the Supreme Court had yet to notify him at the time.

“He is supposed to text me kung pumasa ako. So hindi ko hinonor yung other texts, maski calls. So I thought na, baka hindi tama ang natingnan niya [the priest] so hindi ko muna pinaniwalaan. But then he kept calling me,” Oyales said.

(He is supposed to text me if I passed, so I didn’t honor the other texts, even calls. So I thought, maybe he [the priest] was wrong so I didn’t believe him at first. But then he kept calling me.)

Broadcast journalist TJ Manotoc, who was interviewing him, remarked that Oyales also turned down a call from ANC for the same reason.

Oyales works at SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan Law Office with Manotoc’s brother, fellow bar passer Ferdinand Richard Michael Manotoc. Like others in their firm who were to take the bar exams, the two followed the company “tradition” of clearing out their desks the day before the results were announced.

“We do the walk of shame. If you fail the bar exams, then you are automatically fired. So before the bar exam results came out, we had to remove all our things from the office. We finished all our work….Mike and I even did the ceremonial closing of the lights,” he said with a laugh.

Oyales said while preparing for the big day, he was 50% confident that he would pass, and this rose to 70% when he saw the questions. But when he reviewed his answers, his confidence level went back to 50% because the questions were “tricky.”

There was also the risk of failing due to “human error” in checking the exams.

“It’s very subjective. Law is not an exact science so it depends upon the predisposition of the examiner. There is a risk talaga that I would fail,” Oyales said.

Overjoyed

Oyales said the college professor who advised him to study law was the first to send him a congratulatory text message.

“Tuwang-tuwa siya.  Pero of course malaki ang utang na loob ko sa kanila. (She was overjoyed. But of course, I owe them all a huge debt of gratitude),” he said.

Oyales said his mother cried when she heard the news. His family was apparently hoping for the best but expecting the worst.

“They kept on texting me, ‘Whatever happens, we are here; that’s okay. It’s just a matter of time. If [you do] not [pass] this year,  then next year,” he said.

Oyales had to pause for a few seconds when asked how he felt when he learned that he did not only pass the exams but placed second, as if words could express it.

“I was happy; elated,” he finally said.

He said he was also happy that UP has “reclaimed” the top spot in the bar exams, producing 5 of the top 10 examinees. Ateneo had topped the previous 3 exams.

“I think as a state university, it is our duty at least to the public to maintain a certain degree of excellence. And so we should top the bar,” Oyales said, adding that there were expectations from their law professors that UP bar examinees would do well.

A judge someday

Oyales is also optimistic that his generation of lawyers would be “dedicated” to the craft and would help restore faith in the justice system.

“As far as my batchmates are concerned, I can see from them dedication in the profession. I think we learn from the past. Actually, lawyering is very  powerful. It can destroy society; it can build society….I think I’m confident that our batchmates would tread the right path and restore the justice system to society,” he said.

Oyales said that after working in the private sector, he would like to join the judiciary.

“Probably after spending some time in the private sector, I would like to be a judge someday or a justice of the Supreme Court,” he said.

He explained: “I think judges can dispense justice. You can actually solve the problems of people and grant relief to those who are oppressed and protect those who are defenseless.”

“Because if you’re just a lawyer, you’re an advocate. You can be on the good side or the oppressor’s side. But if you’re a judge, your first goal is to ascertain the truth and act accordingly by giving relief to those who are oppressed or to those who wield the right.”

Asked to sum up the current justice system, Oyales said while Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno is streamlining the procedure to resolve cases, there are just not enough judges in the country to attend to these cases.

He said one judge, for example, would be tasked to handle as many as 50 cases from 9 am to 12 noon, leading to some postponements.

“It takes grit to be a successful lawyer….To become relevant, you should help in the justice system,” Oyales said. – Rappler.com