At least seven new lawyers in the list of 2024 bar passers released by the Supreme Court last week are Catandunganons or trace their roots to the island province.
These include the daughter of former Comelec Commissioner Rene V. Sarmiento, a former Ms. Bicolandia finalist-turned-jail officer, a former editor of the CatSU Statesman, and a son of a San Miguel municipal councilor.
The newly minted lawyers are Golda Abad Sarmiento, Kristine Anne Brillante-Espinola, Cloie Tarnate Tapel, Jandell Chris Bernal Soriao, Aristotle Valderrama Ramos, Alannah Templonuevo Atencia, and Ronald Tatel Tolledo.
They are among the 3,962 out of 10,490 law graduates who completed the fourth digitalized and regionalized bar examinations conducted in September.
A 2011 nursing graduate of CatSU, Alannah is the daughter of Rolando Lim Atencia of Bagamanoc and the former Daisy Templonuevo of Baras as well as a niece of the late Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Romulo Atencia.
After passing the NLE, she worked as a nurse on casual basis at the Eastern Bicol Medical Center (EBMC) for a few months before transferring to the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) as an emergency response nurse in PDRRMO for a year.
She then went abroad in Saudi Arabia before entering San Beda College Alabang College of Law in 2019 as full-time student.
The 2024 Law graduate presently works as a legal assistant in a private company in Metro Manila.
Another CatSU nursing graduate is Kristine Anne Gianan Brillante-Espinola, a native of Baras who first made her name as Ms. Catanduanes State Colleges (CSC) and Bb. Catandungan 1st runner-up in 2005 before becoming a finalist in the Miss Bicolandia search in 2007.
The eldest of the four children of Ricardo Siao Brillante of Baras and Amelia Gianan-Brillante of Virac found employment with the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), becoming Ms. BJMP Region 5 in 2017 before earning her Master of Public Administration at CatSU in 2018.
She studied for her Juris Doctor at the University of Northeastern Philippines in Iriga City and graduated last year.
She is married to Dr. Arman Jefferson S. Espinola of Calatagan Proper, Virac, with whom she has three children: Anna Amalia, Mark Kevin and Patricia Aminah.
Virac-born Aristotle Valderrama Ramos has been a Court Legal Researcher II at RTC Branch 42 where his spouse, Milben Pascua Mirabona of Bagamanoc, also works. They have two children: Fiona Clarizze and
Jose Enrique.
The son of Aristides Aquino Ramos and Editha Ubalde Valderrama, both of Viga town, he spent his early years in Quezon City where he graduated from the Ponciano Bernardo Elementary School and then moved to Legazpi City, finishing high school at St. Agnes Academy before taking up AB Political Science at the former Aquinas University and entering law at Far Eastern University.
He worked as legal officer at ICSEC- Kaplan and as head of personnel department at Regents Food Corporation before applying for the court position.
A member of the Pi Sigma Fraternity and Independent Order of Oddfellows, he was Past Grand Chancellor of Tau Kappa Phi Fraternity, the Exclusive Fraternal Order of FEU- Institute of Law, and Past Master and Past District Grand Lecturer of the Free and Accepted Masons of the Philippines – Catanduanes Island Masonic Lodge No. 291.
UP Law graduate Golda Abad Sarmiento is the youngest daughter of former Comelec Commissioner Rene V. Sarmiento and the former LaRainne Abad. She is likewise the niece of former three-termer Congressman Atty. Cesar V. Sarmiento and former PAGCOR president and chief operating officer Atty. Jorge V. Sarmiento.
An engineering graduate of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP), Jandell Chris Bernal Soriao becomes the 6th lawyer in the extended Bernal-Soriao family of San Miguel town.
A product of CatSU Elementary Laboratory School and Catanduanes National High School, he pursued law at Arellano University, graduating with his Juris Doctor diploma in 2023.
A son of former COA regional supervising auditor Agapito Soriao and incumbent Councilor Delia Bernal-Soriao, he is presently working as paralegal and project manager of Richworld Infra Solution Corporation
His siblings are Angeles City Municipal Trial Court Judge Francis Victor Soriao, Atty. Howell Ivan Richie Soriao of the Antipolo City Public Attorney’s Office, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipines bank officer Michael Arvin Soriao, and Metro Pacific Water Solutions Inc. corporate finance and treasury manager Kevin Paulo Soriao.
His mother’ sibling, the Hon. Marissa Bernal-Aranez, is a judge at the Municipal Trial Court in Macalelong, Quezon, while her cousin’s daughter, UP Law graduate Ma. Angela Tribiana Mercado, also passed the 2024 bar examination.
Judge Francis Victor’s wife, Atty. Roann Manalo of San Fernando, Pampanga, is a clerk of court, while another cousin is Atty Carmela Dawn Bernal Gianan.
Through the years, Atty. Ronald Tatel Tolledo has counted on the steadfast support of his parents – the late secondary public school teacher Rogelio Martirez Tolledo and overseas Filipino worker Rosemarie San Gaspar Tolledo, both of Gigmoto town.
The second of four siblings, he completed his Bachelor of Arts in Theology degree at FEBIAS College of Bible, where he was a consistent academic scholar.
He pursued his Juris Doctor degree last September 2024 at the University of the Cordilleras in Baguio City, which he chose over Metro Manila for health reasons and its cold climate, given what he described as “very stressful” law studies.
On the other hand, new lawyer Cloie Tarnate Tapel is a CatSU graduate, having served as editor and writer for its student publication, the CatSU Statesman, from 2016 to 2019.