When he's 64! | The Manila Bulletin Newspaper Online

When he's 64! | The Manila Bulletin Newspaper Online

"x x x.


When he's 64!

By RACHEL C. BARAWID
March 8, 2012, 4:06am
BAR EXAMS 10th placer Rodolfo Aquino says the legal profession has no retirement age. Photo by KJ Rosales
BAR EXAMS 10th placer Rodolfo Aquino says the legal profession has no retirement age. Photo by KJ Rosales
MANILA, Philippines — Sixty-four year-old Rodolfo Aquino, the oldest examinee who made it to the 10th place of the 2011 Bar examinations, fell in love with school and studying so much that he just could not get enough of it.
Even before he took up Law, the San Beda Alabang graduate is already a certified public accountant and a professor of Finance and Economics at the University of the Philippines Diliman (UP) College of Business Administration.
Aquino is a holder of multiple degrees which have been mostly acquired from UP. After graduating in 1966 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration major in Accounting degree from UP Diliman, he went on to pursue his masters in Business Administration and masters in Statistics.
Later on, Aquino was able to study as a scholar at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York where he completed his masteral and doctorate degrees in Operations Research and Statistics. When he returned to the country, he continued to earn masteral and doctorate degrees in Economics at the UP School of Economics. All these he did while teaching at the university.
“I’m used to doing academic work. I love studying. For me, formal education is the cheapest form of entertainment during my younger years. Magkano lang ang tuition noon, and  then if you are lucky, bibigyan ka pa ng degree! Today though, if you want to learn something or attend a seminar, it will cost you thousands a day,” shares Aquino, also his law class valedictorian.
DISCIPLINE AND A SHARP MIND 
Being a teacher helped a great deal in Dr. Aquino’s performance as a law student. While he was poor in memorization due to his age, he says teaching helped keep his mind sharp and reinforced his reading skills. It also gave him the discipline to endure law school from day one.
“I’ve seen some elder people also take up Law. Some were even older than me. Although they are not of lower intelligence and are successful in their own right, many of them give up after a month or a semester. Kasi hindi sila sanay. Matagal na silang out of school. So they have to adjust again. Eh ang learning curve sa Law very demanding. From day one, you have to hit the ground running,” observes Aquino.
TAKING IT EASY
The key, Aquino says, is managing time wisely. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, he would shuttle to and from his home in Ayala Alabang to attend morning to afternoon classes in UP Diliman. He would drive back to Alabang to attend daily evening classes and Saturdays in law school. Before the Bar exams, he allotted at least four hours a day for studying.
Sundays though are spent bonding with his wife Helen and son Hadrian, who is also a teacher at the UP College of Engineering.
In between reviewing for the Bar exams, Aquino and his wife even went on a cruise holiday in Scandinavia purportedly to recharge  his energy and prepare him physically for the more serious part of the review.
To be able to cover all the lectures included in the syllabus of the Supreme Court, Aquino enrolled in two review schools administered by San Sebastian College of Law and the UP College of Law.
“The alternative was to take a leave from teaching. Pero ayoko naman mag leave sa pagtuturo kasi baka naman maloko ka kung wala kang ibang ginagawa kundi puro review. So I enrolled in two review schools and took the subjects I would miss in San Sebastian, in UP. I also followed a detailed schedule, with a specific number of hours for Commercial Law and Remedial Law. Then I allotted more time for the more difficult subjects,” reveals Aquino, a member of the Sigma Rho fraternity.
But Aquino also made sure he relaxed by watching TV and DVD movies with his wife. “Naalala ko tinanong ako ng kaklase ko kung hindi ba daw ako naprepressure sa pag-aaral ng Law. I said pag na pressure ako, that is the day that I drop. I did not go to your school to be pressured, aatakihin ako,” he quips.
SECOND WIND
Ironically, Aquino almost didn’t make it to college due to his family’s financial difficulties. The fifth in a brood of seven, Aquino initially had to wait for his older brother to finish college first because his father didn’t have enough money to send them to school all at the same time. In fact, his father even challenged him to support himself if he really wanted to pursue Law.
Nonetheless, his father’s hard work and persistence in taking all kinds of odd jobs (from farmer, train and bus conductor to truck driver) paid off, enabling him to go to college. While setting aside his plan to become a lawyer, Aquino went on to build a career as an accountant. He worked at the Presidential Economic Staff during the Marcos administration and later on at the SGV accounting firm.
Now that he found the time to pursue his childhood plan, Aquino couldn’t be happier.
“Walang retirement age ang legal profession. At my age, I still want to be productive, and be a contributor to society, not a burden,” says Aquino who will retire from UP on June 30.
The tireless professor is now looking forward to teaching Law in San Beda Alabang, and in gaining experience in the legal profession soon.

x x x."

law and justice foundation,law and justice symbol,law justice and morality,law or justice 1988,relationship between law and justice,difference between law and justice,law and justice careers,law and justice essay law and justice foundation,law and justice symbol,law justice and morality,law or justice 1988,relationship between law and justice,difference between law and justice,law and justice careers,law and justice essay