LEGAZPI, Philippines – The University of Santo Tomas-Legazpi produced two new lawyers who ranked among the top 10 in the 2023 Bar examinations.

They are Nathaniel Niño Tang, who ranked 4th, and Zes Trina Bañares Non, who secured the 10th spot. Both are certified public accountants. 

The two new lawyers are among the 3,812 passers. This year, 10,387 candidates took the exams which had a passing rate of 36.77%.

Non’s father, Ariel, is the mayor of Jose Panganiban town in Camarines Norte.

Lawyer Jener Barrameda, a UST-Legazpi law professor, described Non as a brilliant student. 

“As a professor, it’s so fulfilling, and I’m proud as all the hardship paid off,” Barrameda said.

The achievement of Tang and Non coincides with the upcoming 75th diamond jubilee of UST-Legazpi, home to the premier law school in the Bicol region.

The university produced 51 Bar exams passers.

“It’s an honor for UST-Legazpi that we have two bar topnotchers this year and 51 new Legazpi Thomasian lawyers. It’s a testament to the hard work of our students and law professors, as well as the support of the administration of the university,” UST-Legazpi College of Law Dean Leandro Millano told Rappler.

Ephraim Bie from the University of Santo Tomas-Manila topped this year’s Bar exams.

In 2019, UST-Legazpi produced Bar exam topnotcher Mae Diane Azores, the daughter of a jeepney driver. Ranked third that same year was Myra Baranda, a certified public accountant, from Bacacay town in Albay.

In 2012, UST-Legazpi also produced lawyer Ralph Karlo Barcelona, who ranked 7th in the Bar exams that year.

UST-Legazpi has been known for producing a high number of lawyers across the Bicol region for the past decades.

Meanwhile, the Bicol University of Legazpi, the premier state university in the Bicol region, produced six new lawyers out of seven examinees in the 2023 bar exams.

The six new lawyers are from the first batch of the Bicol University College of Law (BUCL) graduates, with the university achieving an 85.71% passing rate.

The new lawyers from BUCL are as follows:

• Ma. Feona Imperial
• Monica Calleja
• Shiela Marie Gonzales
• Don Don Nopre
• Andre Maurice Rey
• April Jane Moral

BUCL ranked third among the law schools with one to 10 examinees.

Ang Probinsyano Party-list Representative Alfred Delos Santos, deputy majority leader, and an alumnus of Aquinas-UST-Legazpi, lauded and urged the bar exams topnotchers and passers to engage in grassroots legal aid work. – Rappler.com