ATTY.

JOCELYN FABELLO
“Joey”
Top 5, 2019 Bar Exam

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

I am a combination of a visual, auditory and experiential learner.

When I read law books, I am also guilty of coloring (highlighting) the books. When I
encounter an interesting concept or one worth noting, I write it down. If I have the time, I would
write my own memory aid. If I don’t, I would write notes on prepared memory aids and “color”
them again. I do the same thing in audio/video lectures. Afterwards, I process my notes by
studying them and lecturing them to myself while I walk. Hence, I don't really study in coffee
shops.

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

Disclaimer and Basic Tips/Reminders

I can't really say that I had a well-planned or optimal review. I was just like most bar
reviewees, anxious, scared, and struggling. In fact, I am a bit ill-prepared for the review. I was
not also able to ask around that much as to how to prepare for the bar exams. I panicked and
read everything I could get my hands on. One month before the bar exams, I was not yet able to
finish reviewing Political law, Labor Law, Civil Law, some concepts in Commercial Law, Criminal
Law and Legal Ethics. And, since I am based in Palawan, the anxiety is coupled with
homesickness and adjustment, since I enrolled in a review center in Manila. Looking back, the
following basic things may have been among the reasons why I topped the bar.

1. Diligent law student

The bar review is very short. You cannot learn everything in your 6 month review. Yes, there
may be special laws and certain legal concepts which you can still learn during your review, but
if you are going to start digging deep only during your review, for sure you will be overwhelmed.
I was a diligent law student and I studied hard during law school. The review merely integrated
and/or filled in the gaps but the foundation was already there.

2. Codal + Syllabus

I read so many references during the bar review (as I said, my review was not optimal and I,
honestly, panicked). But I always made sure that I covered the topics listed in the syllabus and
that, somehow, I was able to integrate what I read with the codal provisions. I think this
approach simplified the concepts and helped in my recall of things during the actual bar
examinations.

3. Trust in Your Learning Style

Even before the bar review, I was already considering online/ self-review. I knew in my heart
that I really wanted to have control of my review time. However, since I have not yet met people
who self-reviewed, I enrolled in a review center in Manila. Though the review center helped, I
found it hard to follow the schedule of the review center. Also, after 4 hours of listening to
lectures in a hall, my brain would already shut down. Mid- review, I stopped attending the
lectures. I read and read all day and listened/watched audio/video lectures at night. I used a
VLC app which increased the speed of the lectures.

When I decided to stop attending the lectures, I felt guilty that maybe I was doing the wrong
thing and that maybe I was missing out on a lot. However, all that went away when the results of
the bar examinations were released.

4. Never stop studying

During my review, I encountered a lot of roadblocks. The area where I was staying in was so
noisy, early morning and late at night. My room had no windows. I felt like I was going crazy. I
was homesick. I transferred to a different unit mid-review. I had eye spasms after 10 minutes of
reading. I got severe flu during the third week of the bar exams.

However, all that did not stop me from reading and studying. I read while lying down when I
got the flu and flooded my body with Vitamin C. I stopped reading every after 10 minutes and
rested my eyes for 2 minutes to minimize the eye spasms. I made sure that I covered the
lectures which I missed when I transferred to a different unit.

Detailed Tips

1. Memorization Techniques

Mnemonic devices are not that effective for me. I tend to forget them and mix them up. I
instead use logic more than a mnemonic device. For example, there is an enumeration. I try to
understand why such is included in the enumeration. I think this works for me because even if
you can’t exactly write the item in the enumeration, you can, at least, write something of the
same import. I also sometimes use association. However, such takes a lot of time because you
have to think of things to which you associate that which you are trying to memorize.

2. Bar Materials ( I will also recommend certain materials which I hope I had used for
the bar)

What I Used

In General: Lex Pareto, Previous Bar Questions, Chairman/woman’s Cases, Landmark

and Recent Cases, Codals. I will no longer include these in the enumeration)

Approach: Always link what you read with your codal provisions so that one
month before the bar examinations you can just review your codals. Also, check
your syllabus so that you would be able to cover everything that’s listed there.

Political Law

1. General Principles: Constitutional Law Primer by Bernas

2. Constitution: Nachura/ Cruz (to clarify some concepts)
3. PIL: Old Nachura
4. Admin/Election Laws/Law on Public Officers/Local Government Code/PIL: San
Beda Memory Aid
5. Lecturers: Prof. Sandoval, Loanzon
6. Notes: Candelaria and Sandoval
7. Recommended Lecturers: Cruz, Sandoval, Loanzon

Approach: For the constitutional provisions, make sure to read the references for the
purpose of understanding the codal provisions. Understand why they are there and their
interplay.

Labor Law

1. Chan
2. For law school recall and simplified concepts, Azucena and Poquiz
 3. San Beda Memory Aid
4. Lecturers: Prof. Manuel, Dean Duka
5. Recommended Lecturers: Manuel, Duka
6. Recommended Books: Azucena and Poquiz

Civil Law (So Long!)- I really just wanted to use Jurado for civil law but I thought I
couldn’t finish it. That’s why I have a lot of sources in civil law. I couldn’t shift midway
through the review anymore. But Jurado would have been great

1. Aquino in General (When I can’tfind a good reference for a Civil Law topic)
2. Persons and Property: Rabuya (Tip: You have to partner this with the Rabuya
lecture and read the book with the codal provisions for faster understanding)
3. Paras for Wills and Succession
4. Jurado and Aquino for Oblicon, Sales, Lease, Partnership, Agency
5. San Beda Memory Aid for Credit Transactions, General Principles
6. San Beda Red Book for Torts and Conflict of Laws
7. Lecturers: Rabuya
8. Recommended: Jurado and lectures of Rabuya
9. For Land Titles: Lectures of Riguera

Tax (Try the codal approach for tax)

1. Ingles
2. San Beda Memory Aid
3. Lecturers: Lumbera; Prof. Noel Ortega, Capuno
4. Notes: Lumbera, Gruba, Dimaampao
5. Recommended: Lumbera; Prof. Noel Ortega, Prof. Eric Recalde (Local Taxation)

Commercial Law

1. Sundiang- Aquino
2. Miravite (but check/verify the answers)
3. San Beda Memory Aid and Red Book
4. Lecturers: Villanueva- Castro
5. Recommended Lecturers; Ceniza, Villanueva-Castro

Criminal Law

1. Campanilla
2. San Beda Memory Aid
3. Notes: Campanilla, Ticman
4. Lecturer: Prof. Ticman

Remedial Law

1. Riano
2. Riguera
3. San Beda Memory Aid
4. Lecturers: Brondial, Villasis
5. Recommended: Brondial, Salvador

Legal Ethics

1. San Beda Memory Aid and Red Book

2. Notes: Prof. Loanzon

c. Hours of reading

During the first few months of my bar review, I read from 8 in the morning until lunch
time and then from 8 in the evening until the wee hours of the morning since I still attended the
afternoon lectures of my review center. Mid-review, when I stopped attending the live lectures, I
started reading from 5 in the morning until 7 in the evening, with rests in between. I
listened/watched audio/video lectures at night.
 By the way, I damaged my muscle which absorbs and prevents eye strain. So I don’t
really recommend reading too much. You should rest your eyes after 10 minutes of reading.

d. Review Center/Coaching/ Mock Bars

I enrolled in the San Sebastian Recoletos Law Review Center because I was a fan of
Dean Riano and I liked their mirror approach wherein the last bar subjects were being taught
first. However, mid-review, I stopped attending the live lectures because I felt that I was lagging
behind and because the lectures ran from 1 in the afternoon until 9 in the evening.

Like what I said earlier, if you feel that online review is effective for you, then, don’t
hesitate to enrol.

I took mock bars which my review center offered. However, in my case, the mock bars
scared me more than increase my confidence. My pace in studying is sometimes different from
the schedule of my review center. Hence, there are times when I take the mock bar even if I
have not yet finished studying the bar subject.

Later during the review, when I got to talk to some lawyers, they told us that the key in
mock bars is to just take the exam and not look at your score. The mindset is more of exposure
more than assessment of how well you are doing.

e. Mentoring

It was during the review when I encountered lecturers who were mentoring specific bar
reviewees. Such concept was new to me but if your professors would offer this approach, then, I
think, you should accept it as this would be beneficial for the bar reviewee.

f. Scheduling

For my review, I followed the schedule of the Recoletos Law Review Center. However,
there were times when I reviewed too much for a bar subject and failed to give enough time for
another bar subject. During our time, the Review Center allotted one week for criminal law,
which was my weakest bar subject.

Looking back, I should have first self-assessed as to what was my weakest bar subject
then allotted more time for such subject. I should have also stuck with my schedule as I was
always lagging behind. One month before the bar examinations, I was still cramming.

Mid-review, we were advised to follow this schedule:

* Average of two weeks per subject for the first 3 to 4 months, then memory aid/codals
for the month before the bar exams. I wasn’t really able to follow this schedule anymore as I
was already in the middle of a messed up schedule.

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. )

In General: I think the examiners were not that much concerned about form because I
had a lot of erasures and my paragraphs were a bit slanted.For Tax, my first page was a whole
paragraph of erasures.

Content

I had short answers. My first sentence contained my answer to the question including a
short and direct reason for the answer. And then I expounded a little bit, with sentences
containing both the facts and the law.

Form

I wrote in print and used Pentel Energel 0.5 in Black. (I tried to use 0.7 during the first
week of the bar examinations but my handwriting looked messy, hence, I shifted to 0.5 during
the second week.) I don’t really have a good and neat handwriting but, I believe, my handwriting
is big and readable (legible).
4. What was your lowest moment during the Bar season, if there is any? And how did you
overcome it?

During the bar review

I had a lot of setbacks during the bar review, which, collectively, lowered my morale. The
area where I was staying in was very noisy. I could hear my neighbors early morning and late at
night. I tried waking up at 4 in the morning and sleeping at around that time. The noise was all
day. Our units were separated by plywood. My apartment had no window. Such, coupled with
homesickness, made me feeI like I was going crazy.

I had to look for a new unit mid-review and transfer all my books and stuff mid-review.
My first apartment was also a bare unit. Hence, I had to arrange for my other stuff in my old
apartment to be shipped out.

Come August, I started having eye spasms whenever I would read. The spasms weren’t
just dry eyes. They were intense tingling sensations at the back of my eyes, which prevents me
from reading. When I had my eyes checked up, the doctor said that I had worn out the muscle
which prevents eye strain. I bought new glasses and I had to take a rest every 10 minutes of
reading to prevent the spasms from worsening.

To overcome all of the challenges, I just kept on moving forward. I kept on reading and
studying.

During the bar month

My lowest moment was the third week of the bar month. Even if I had flu shots, I still got
the flu. It wasn’t just any flu, but one which really compels you to lie down. To sit down and read
was a struggle. I read while lying down and, whenever I would study while sitting down, I would
rest after a few minutes. I drowned myself with vitamin C and I even took antibiotics (but what I
got was a virus). I wasn’t able to fully study Criminal Law, which was my weakest bar subject.
Come actual bar examinations, I felt like I was just sleeping during the Criminal Law exam. I
wasn’t really feeling well. I asked to go to the restroom a lot of times to keep myself awake. I
also religiously took paracetamol to ease the fever. I felt like I failed the bar subjects that week.

Nonetheless, I pushed on.

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?

To the law students: You are in the best place to learn the law in preparation for the bar
examinations. You have more time. Make good use of it. Believe in the learning process. Have
faith in God and in yourself. Also, the pandemic is really changing the world, and, even, the
legal landscape as trial courts start trying virtual hearings. Now is the best time to be
aware/woke and to be curious, resilient and open to changes.

To the bar reviewees: So many online lectures have been recently posted, make use of
them and study during this time that we are required to stay home. Also, be aware of the issues
during this time.

To everyone, stay healthy and stay safe. If you can, help out even in littlest ways.

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, i.e. I spelled 15th as fiftinth)

The first question in Civil Law was a Torts question. Though I don’t really cite exact
provisions of the law, it was the only time that I cited an article in the Civil Code. I cited the
wrong article. I wrote Art 2170 instead of Art 2176. Also in Tax, my first page was an erased
paragraph.