This feat did not only bring honor to Ateneo, it is Naga’s as well as it is Bicolandia’s.
The day of celebration held on 5 June 20220 was fittingly commenced by the Ateneo community with a thanksgiving mass celebrated at the Christ the King Church by University President, Fr. Roberto Exequiel N. Rivera, S.J. It was a solemn celebration of triumph and a promise of service.
After the mass, donned in their 100% shirts, the Ateneo community paraded around the busy streets of Naga City. At the fore were the pioneer Ignatian lawyers of Bicol trailed by a convoy of cars through Elias Angeles, turning to the length of Panganiban Drive, proceeding to Magsaysay Avenue up to Peñafrancia Avenue and back to Ateneo Avenue.
Back at the Ateneo Gymnasium, a community merienda awaited the participants. There they also celebrated Sangguniang Panlungsod Resolution No. 2022-477. In Mayor Legacion’s stead, Mr. Renne F. Gumba awarded the Resolution commending Ateneo de Naga for its exemplary performance in delivering a 100% passing rate in the 2020-21 Bar Examinations. As Dean Domnina T. Rances said, this feat “proved that Nagueños and Bicolanos need not go to Manila to become a lawyer, Ateneo Law Naga is here.”
In the evening, a testimonial dinner for the Ignatian lawyers, their parents, professors, staff and the bar operations committee was hosted by the University President and the Trustees.
Dressed in their Filipiniana regalia, the Ignatian Lawyers and their parents were introduced by Associate Dean Vergenee Marree Abrenica-Orillosa and were given plaques of recognition for their exceptional performance.
The highlights of the night were the tribute to the parents, as they were serenaded and given roses by their children, the roll signing on the ADNU Book of Lawyers, the testimonial speech of the class president, Atty. Joseph Cesar Sahurda, who enforced that belief can bear miracles, that struggles and personal odds can be overcome through God, and a loving and dedicated community and family, the message of pride, love and hope by Atty. Avelino V. Sales, Jr., of Atty. Pio Martin Gerardo R. Borja, of Mr. David Bercasio, the sharing of four Ignatian pillars for a fruitful and fulfilling practice —purpose, preparation, principle and prayer — by Founding Dean, Atty. Jose Maria Z. Carpio, and not in the least, the tribute to the Ateneo Law Naga Faculty, a series of tigsiks tailored fit to each professor to encapsulate their memories with them in law school. It was a night of revelations, tears, laughter, gratitude, hope and of love.
In Dean Nina’s speech she shared that the pioneer batch was nurtured with steadfast love. But they were never cushioned from the consequences of their actions, they were always given the chance to come back from them, make amends, do better and become better. From weekly trips from Manila to Naga and back, regularly updating their syllabi, listening to their problems, to cooking their meals for the Bar and personally driving them to the Bar site, these actions are expressions of steadfast love and the Ateneo Law Naga faculty were never short of it.
To end the revelries, Fr. Robert not only welcomed the promise made by the pioneer batch — to give back and return the favor in any way and every way they can — but challenged them to follow through with commitment and come back to the Ateneo.
In an era of instants, this day of celebration, this Pentecost Sunday (which also symbolically falls on the 82nd foundation anniversary of the university), reminded the participants that the greatest goals in life are achieved through fighting, struggling, and picking yourself up when you fall down. This pioneer batch’s unmistakable grit, inner strength and unshakable spirit of service saw them through becoming worthy of the title they now wield. For God’s greater glory, our Ignatian lawyers will set the world on fire.
