A 35-year-old janitor who hails from Catanduanes in Bicol region, Philippines is among the 3,747 new lawyers who passed the 2016 bar exams in the country!
An inspiration to many, Ramil Comendador went to Metro Manila so he could find a better life for his family. All he wanted was to end the ‘cycle of poverty’ for his family; knowing that if he stayed in the province or stayed as janitor, he’s going to be a minimum wage earner for the rest of his life.
“Baon-baon mo yung pangarap mo na makaalis na sa kahirapan. Baon-baon mo yun, siyempre. Malaking bahagi nun talaga yung tiwala mo sa Panginoon, at maitatawid mo yung mga pangarap mo,” Comendador said.
So, he enrolled at the Universidad de Manila in Metro Manila while also working as janitor at the headquarters of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC). With two children, one is 4 years old and the other is 8 years old, Comendador faced plenty of challenges while in school but he managed to overcome these and graduate.
While taking the 2016 bar exams, he faced further challenges when his hands began to shake out of fatigue; it came to a point when he could no longer lift it to write.
“Yung kamay ko nun, nagshe-shake talaga, as in hindi makapag-sulat. Ang ginawa ko po, after kong magdasal, kinuha ko ng kaliwang kamay ko ang kanang kamay ko at pinilit kong idiniin sa papel. Sabi ko, ‘Panginoon, pahintulutan mong makapag-sulat ako kasi gustong gusto ko itong maitawid,’” he recalled.
The former COMELEC janitor who’s now a lawyer visits Commissioner Andres Bautista
Photo credit: Scoopnest / Rappler
Thankfully, his hard work and dedication paid off because he passed the bar exams on his first take!
Now that he’s a lawyer, there’s one more dream he wants to fulfill: to meet with his father who left him when he was still in his mother’s womb.
Congratulations, Atty. Ramil Comendador! May all your dreams come true…
