Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 14) — 2022 Bar exam topnotcher Czar Matthew Dayday said being a lawyer is about making sure the country’s justice system is accessible to all, regardless of a person’s rank and status.
“We make sure that all of their problems will be heard by our justice system and will be given a fair treatment,” Dayday told CNN Philippines’ News Night.
The topnotcher also shared that his urge to help people in need prompted him to pursue a career in law.
“I wanted to help people and I thought like I was good at solving problems, so I thought being a lawyer is a way to go,” he said.
Dayday said he initially planned to specialize in corporate law but is also open to exploring other areas of law.
When Bar exams chair Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa announced that he ranked first in the exam, Dayday thought that another person with the same surname took the Bar exam.
“Then he (Caguioa) said in first place was ‘Dayday’ and my first thought was ‘Oh! There’s another Dayday,’ and then I heard the rest of my name,” he said.
Together with his family, Dayday said he was crying, screaming, and shouting incoherently after the results came out.
Out of the 3,992 examinees who passed the 2022 Bar exams, the topnotcher from the University of the Philippines dominated with a score of 88.8083%.
This year’s passing rate (43.47%) is lower compared to the record high 72.28% passing rate, or 8,241 out of 11,402 test takers, in the 2020-2021 Bar exams.
