Bar exam Top 10 has 2 PhDs, 4 master's degrees


SOURCE: 64-year-old Bar exam topper has 2 PhDs ABS-CBN News Posted at Mar 01 2012 07:07 PM | Updated as of Mar 02 2012 03:07 AM. https://news.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/03/01/12/64-year-old-bar-exam-topper-has-2-phds.

A 64-year-old man who placed 10th in the 2011 Bar exams was no ordinary law student.

Rodolfo Aquino has 2 PhDs (doctorates), a master's degree in business administration, and 3 other masteral degrees in statistics and accounting.

Aquino, a law veledictorian at San Beda College-Alabang, is also a certified public accountant and is a professor at the University of the Philippines' College of Business Administration.

He said his age did not prevent him from reaching his dream of becoming a lawyer.

"If you can still argue, read, and write, o kahit dictate na lang, you can still do it," he said, citing octogenarians, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and former Associate Justice Serafin Cuevas.

Aquino's fellow UP professors clapped for him when they heard news that he was among the 2011 Bar topnotchers.

He said he had long wanted to be a lawyer but it was only recently that he found the time to study for the profession.

"Masuwerte ang mga bata ngayon, may mga scholarship na available, hindi tulad dati," he said.

SOURCE: 64-year-old Bar exam topper has 2 PhDs ABS-CBN News Posted at Mar 01 2012 07:07 PM | Updated as of Mar 02 2012 03:07 AM. https://news.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/03/01/12/64-year-old-bar-exam-topper-has-2-phds.

Marami ang humanga sa 64-anyos na si Rodolfo Aquino na sakabila ng kanyang edad ay nagawa pa niyang makapasok sa top 10 ng 1,913 examinees na nakapasa sa 2011 Bar examinations na isinagawa noong Nobyembre.Sa newscast na State of the Nation (SONA) nitong Miyerkules ng gabi, kinapanayam ng GMA News anchor na si Jessica Soho si Aquino para alamin ang kanyang mga plano kapag naging ganap na siyang abogado sa sandaling makapanumpa na ito. Sa simula ng panayam, binati at ipinaabot ni Jessica ang paghanga kay Aquino dahil hindi naging hadlang sa kanya ang edad upang makapag-aral ng abogasya at makasama pa sa top 10.

SOURCE: 64-year-old Bar top 10 placer Rodolfo Aquino: ‘Walang retirement age sa legal profession’. FRJImenez. GMA News. Published March 1, 2012 6:07pm. https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/ulatfilipino/250030/64-year-old-bar-top-10-placer-rodolfo-aquino-walang-retirement-age-sa-legal-profession/story/

“Sir I understand nagtuturo na po kayo sa UP Business Administration before you decided na kumuha po ng law, tama po ba?," tanong ni Jessica. “Tama po ‘yon," tugon naman ni Mr Aquino. “Bakit po? At age 64 medyo retirement age na po ‘yon ‘di ho ba?," pahabol na tanong ni Jessica.

Ayon kay Aquino, noon pa man ay nasa isipan na niya na hindi dapat maging balakid o sagabal ang edad para makapag-ambag ng kanyang kakayahan. Bukod dito, nakita rin umano niya na walang retirement age sa legal profession katulad ng nakikita ngayon sa impeachment trial ni Chief Justice Renato Corona.

“Naisip ko po kahit noon pa na sa legal profession ay walang retirement age hindi katulad sa government sector na 65 o sa private sector. Sa abogasyo po nakikita naman natin specially ngayon sa impeachment trial, hindi po barrier ang age," paliwanag niya.

“Hanggang nakapag-iisip po kayo ng matuwid at nakapagsasalita at nakakasulat ay pwede pa po kayong maging productive and effective lawyer," dagdag ni Aquino. Dahil sa UP nagtuturo (bagaman sa San Beda College kumuha ng abogasya), pabirong sinabi ni Jessica na baka puwedeng si Aquino na ang maging representative ng UP sa top 10 list dahil walang nakapasok na UP law graduates sa listahan ng topnotcher.

Nakangiting tugon naman ni Aquino: “I’m sure na UP will come back." Dahil may first career na si Mr Aquino bilang propesor sa UP, inalam ni Jessica kung ano ngayon ang plano niya matapos makapasa sa bar.

Ayon kay Aquino, inalok siya ng San Beda na magturo sa School of Law kapag nagretiro na ito sa pagtuturo sa UP. Sa darating na Hunyo ay maaabot na niya ang retirement age na 65. Gayunman, sinabi ni Aquino na may plano pa rin siyang i-practice ang kanyang pagiging abogado pero hindi pa raw niya malaman sa ngayon ang direksyon na kanyang tatahakin.

SOURCE: 64-year-old Bar top 10 placer Rodolfo Aquino: ‘Walang retirement age sa legal profession’. FRJImenez. GMA News. Published March 1, 2012 6:07pm. https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/ulatfilipino/250030/64-year-old-bar-top-10-placer-rodolfo-aquino-walang-retirement-age-sa-legal-profession/story/