ATTY.

ANTON LUIS AVILA

“Kuys”
Top 8, 2019 Bar Exam

1. Please describe your learning style (e.g., visual/auditory).

I'm probably leaning towards auditory than visual. I notice that the I respond better to abstraction (it might be because
of my background in mathematics). So I appreciate bodies of texts better than seeing those same concepts
summarized in charts, tables, or graphs. I also like attending and listening to lectures.

2. Please share your study techniques or best review practices which you think helped you topped the 2019
Bar examinations.

a. Memorization techniques

I'm terrible at memorizing. I'm the kind of person who tries to use acronyms then fails to remember what the letters
mean (more on that later). Of course, memorizing has its place in the bar and I would often force myself to memorize.
Whenever I have to memorize, I find that memorizing keywords is more effective than using acronyms.

But I think the key to memory work is understanding the concept and logic behind what you’re memorizing instead of
relying on rote memory.

b. Bar materials (i.e., codals, 1 reference book, chair's cases, memory aid, personal notes.)

For the bar, my strategy was "leave no stone unturned."

For the first reading, I went back to the textbooks. I stuck to one material per subject, maintaining the textbooks I read
in law school which I was comfortable with and changing the ones that didn't work. Reading the textbooks gave me
the confidence to deal with questions regarding concepts which were overlooked in law school (a specific example of
this would be "Assurance Fund" question in Civil Law). It also gave me confidence that I would be ready for any
surprise questions (like matters not in the syllabus or "unfair trivia questions".)

For the second reading, I chose to read reviewers that were not lengthy (like Nachura for Poli, Sundiang-Aquino for
Commercial). This gave me bird's eye view and gave me a sense of what were important for the bar.

For pre-week, I used those same reviewers simply scanning through everything and focusing on problem areas.

The following are the materials that I used. I'm not sure how complete this list is but this is what I can remember for
now.

First Reading
Constitutional Law: Cruz I and II
Admin, Elections, Pubcorp: Atty. Hilario Morales Notes (My teacher)
PIL: Nachura/Bernas
Labor: Poquiz I and II
Persons: Sta. Maria
Oblicon: De Leon
Property: Rabuya
Prescription: Paras (Book IV)
Sales/Credit Transactions/Lease: De Leon
ATP/Estoppel: De Leon
Conflicts: Pe Benito
Tax: Dimaampao, Class Notes

Nego: De Leon
Insurance: Aquino
Banking: Aquino and Aquino
Corpo: Aquino
IPL: Salao
Crim: Reyes I and II

CivPro: Riano
Provi and SCA: Riano
Crim Pro: Riano
Evidence: Riano
Spec Pro: Festin

Second Reading:
Poli: Nachura
Labor: Chan Pre-week
Civil: Aquino Reviewer
Tax: Class Notes
Commercial: Sundiang-Aquino Reviewer
Crim: Boado and Codal
Remedial: Same as above
Ethics/Forms: UST Golden Notes

Pre-week: Same materials used in Second Reading

Of course, I also used my personal notes (which were terribly unorganized) along with the notes from Albano Review,
Chan-Robles Pre-week notes, and QUAMTOs.

c. Hours of reading

I would say that on a good day, I could read for an average of eight hours. On a really good day, I could go up to 12
or 13, but nothing more than that. Of course there are days that one can read only for 2 or 3 hours, if none at all. Life
indeed has its way of disturbing you in reviewing and in only in hindsight you realize that it was a much needed break.

I divide my day by reading the morning exam in the morning and the afternoon exam in the afternoon. So in my
Political Law/Labor Law scheduled reading, I would read Political Law in the morning and Labor Law in the afternoon.

Adjustments were made when I felt that I was behind schedule in a subject or I simply wanted to focus more on a
subject that particular day.

d. Review Center/Coaching

My main consideration in enrolling for review proper was convenience. As much as possible, I wanted to focus on the
bar during the review proper. I didn’t want to worry about food, laundry, lodging, money, and every other thing that
would distract me from studying. Since Albano Bar Review Center (ABRC) came to Baguio, it was a logical choice.

ABRC’s classes were on the weekends so I had the weekdays to focus on study and do a little work. Being in the
comforts of my home, I got everything I needed and the only thing I had to do was read.
I also found the Chan-Robles Pre-week quite helpful. Their pre-week lectures and notes were released a month
before the bar. The schedule gave me time to get the best of both worlds by "attending" "pre-week" classes for a
month and read on my own at during the actual pre-week, which are usually, mutually exclusive choices for the bar-
taker.

e. Mock bar

I did not participate in any Mock Bar except for the required mock bar from my law school. I would have wanted to,
but time did not permit me to do so.

f. Law school training

The age old wisdom is that there is no better preparation for the bar than being prepared everyday in law school. This
is definitely true, but I believe not everyone has the privilege of being fully prepared for law school everyday. This is
especially true for those with full-time jobs and those who are supporting their families.

Whatever your experience in law school, you still have one final chance to prepare for the bar during the review
proper. If you can, take a leave from work or seek the understanding of your family during this time to focus on the
singular goal of passing the bar.

g.Scheduling

I did the "mirror" method. For the first reading, I would read Political Law and Labor first, then Civil and Tax,
Commercial and Criminal Law, then Remedial Law and Ethics. For the second reading, I would do the reverse. Rem
and Ethics first, Commercial and Criminal Law, etc. I made my schedule in such a way that I would finish my second
reading just before pre-week. Then for the pre-week, I would spot-check everything.

I dedicated 3 weeks each pair of subjects for the First Reading, and two weeks for Second Reading, and of course, 1
week for pre-week.

Within those periods during the day, I would read the morning exam in the morning and the afternoon exam in the
afternoon. Meaning, I would read Constitutional Law in the morning and Labor in the afternoon.

I really spent some time planning the review period, planning the week, and planning the day, up to the last day of
pre-week. Obsessively planning gave me some confidence that I was in control over my studies.

h. Anything you wish to focus on or strongly wanted to share to law students and reviewees (E.g. Text-to-
speech app so you can listen to review materials even while eating or before sleeping)

Take time to sharpen your axe. There is this analogy of a woodcutter constantly cutting trees with his axe. While his
hard work gets the job done, he could cut more trees faster and more efficiently if he took time and sharpened his
axe once in a while.

There’s no secret to passing the bar. Do the hard work, take needed breaks, and pray hard.

3. Please share your tips on how to answer Bar exam questions. (Both in form--- how you write print or
cursive, pen used, blocking, margins, and content etc. )

I was working under the premise that I should make the examiners want to read my answers. In essence, you don't
want the examiners to have a hard time reading your answers. So here are a few things that worked for me:

-I used print because I have bad penmanship. I would say that though my print is not beautiful, it is legible and
readable.
-I used black ink (Energel 0.5 Ballpoint). I'm a fountain pen fan but there are just too many factors to consider in
using a fountain pen. A pen was something I didn't want to worry about during the bar.
-In sum and using a Microsoft Word analogy, my blocking was "align left" rather than "justified." My left margins were
not perfect but quite defined. My right margins were not straight. When I ran out of space for a word, I would rather
write the whole word in the next line than hyphenating it.
-Don’t assume examiners know what they are checking. Spell it out for them. For example, suppose the questions is:
Is x correct in saying that the RTC has jurisdiction over the case? My answer would be: X is correct in saying that the
RTC has jurisdiction over the case (instead of: Yes, X is correct.).
-I prioritized completeness over brevity but the answers must still be as concise as possible.
-Technical definitions are always better than stating the law in your own words.

4. What was your lowest moment during the Bar season, if there is any? And how did you overcome it?

For most of the bar preparations, the bar examinees are mostly in control of their fate. The bar examinees can build
on their strengths and work on their weaknesses. The Monday after Remedial Law is truly the first day when the
results are out of the hands of the examinees.

For me, I felt that lack of control sometime around April.

I was mostly distracted after the bar because I was planning for my wedding in January of 2020. After the wedding,
The bar was the last thing on my mind after my wedding as I was beginning and enjoying the married life.

The panic started around April. It's common knowledge that bar results are released after the Supreme Court
Justices meet en banc, sometime around April or May. But the lockdown made the en banc sessions physically
impossible. So the first time the Supreme Court announced that they were meeting en banc virtually, I started
spiralling. I had two breakdowns all witnessed and suffered by my poor wife. I thank her for her patience during those
times.

5. What words of encouragement can you share to the law students and bar reviewees, or to the public in
general, amidst our battle against Covid-19?

I'm going to break taboo and quote myself taken from an interview. Haha.

The study of law is a daily battle against self-doubt. Everything will work against you. You will get called to recite
cases you didn't read, professors will assign you readings which you will not finish, you will try to finish exam that are
impossibly long, among a million other things you have to deal with in law school.

You will seldom go home feeling good about yourself.

Enjoy the struggle or at least, appreciate it. Those challenges will give you a brave heart and nerves of steel to face
the bar examinations and ultimately, the practice of law.

At the end of it all, you will see a light shining through the darkness.

I know I did.

Please share an instance which you think is your embarassing moment during the Bar month. (Anything
"funny"/humiliating that will inform many that we dont need to be "perfect" in order to top or pass the bar)

Oh man! Ang dami nito! Haha. Overlooked spelling and grammar in the bar happens. But substantively, this one is
about how bad I am at acronyms. During the bar, there was a question on habitual delinquency and of course, every
law student knows that the key here is to remember FRETSL. I could not for the life of me remember one of the
letters during the bar. Total mental block. I wrote the enumeration for my legal basis in paragraph form instead of a
numbered list. I guess I got away with it?