1. Manuel, Mark Anthony N.

2015 Bar Exams Notes | Bar Techniques and Bar Reports

BAR EXAMS TIPS BY ATTY. JOAN DE VENECIA
Top 1, 2005 Bar Examinations
First: Make an honest assessment of the subjects you are good at, and the
subjects you feel you have an inadequate foundation on. Adjust the number
of days devoted to each subject accordingly.
Second: Compact reviewers might not necessarily help, especially for those
subjects in which you are weak at, and the morning subjects.
Eighth: For the bar, short answers don’t necessarily work. The answer must
be firm yet exhaustive. I did not cite cases nor specific provisions, but just
went straight to the answers.
Ninth: Updates on latest jurisprudence are indispensable. Request that the
updates come with short facts, because bar questions are often facts-based.
Tenth: Always make time for gimmicks and relaxation to keep you sane during
the review.

Third: Choose the review classes you want to attend. (I enrolled at the law
center but didn’t attend most of the lectures). Other Tips

Fourth: Avoid unnecessary comparison to the pace of others. We all have our 1. Research on the Nature of the Exams
2. Determine your strong and weak points
own rhythm according to the laws of inertia.
3. Make your Strong points stronger, but focus most on your weak points
Fifth: Perfect your handwriting and grammar. 4. Test Yourself

Sixth: Write things down. I had so many post-its in my codals, especially for
Civ and Rem. It was like a mini-book where all the important doctrines were
jotted down.

Seventh: No need to memorize laws. If you must memorize, memorize only

the key words of important doctrines. Please, don’t memorize case titles and
SCRA citations. Don’t clog your brain with useless clutter. Understanding is
key.

How to pass, nay, top the bar exams

1. Manuel, Mark Anthony N.
Last Sunday, I commented on the dismal results of the 2007 bar exams. I said
that it was high time the Supreme Court, the Philippine president and the law
schools collaborated to produce better lawyers. We concur, chorused many
readers. But the more pressing query of law students and reviewees for the
2008 test is “Can you give us tips on how to pass the 2008 tests?”
Having taken the exams eons ago, I felt inadequate answering the question.
Besides, I placed only sixth. So I called someone more qualified, 2005
topnotcher Joan de Venecia. In turn, she summoned help from two other
numero unos, Arlene Maneja (2002) and Mercedita Ona (2007). Incidentally,
Arlene comes from UST, Joan from UP and Mercedita from Ateneo de Manila.
Here are their common tips.
Believe that you deserve to take the test. Forget the times you botched up a
recitation or failed an exam. You’re past that. Believe that you have been
allowed to sit for the bar because you have a fighting chance to pass it.
Cultivate composure with that thought. You’ll need it.
Make time for serious self-evaluation. Have an honest assessment of the
subjects you are good at, and those you feel you have an inadequate
foundation on. If you sincerely believe that you do not have sufficient
knowledge of a particular subject, accept it humbly and know that you still
have a number of months to study for it. Adjust the number of days devoted
to each subject according to the results of your self-assessment. A schedule is
recommended to serve as a guide as to how many days you can allot for
every subject.
Have a study plan and be realistic about it. At the start of the bar review, set
aside all the materials you want to cover’all the books, reviewers and notes
2015 Bar Exams Notes | Bar Techniques and Bar Reports
for each subject. Make it your guide and pace yourself. People without a plan
either underestimate the workload or get swamped with available materials;
either way, they don’t finish everything. So too, organize your review
materials. Time is of the essence during the bar review. You cannot afford to
waste time by looking for misplaced review materials. Maintain eight
separate boxes or drawers for each of the subjects. This will help you sort
through your materials and decide which to read during your pre-week.
Be realistic about your capabilities. People say they will start afresh during
the bar review study more, play less. That’s nice but it rarely happens. So, in
setting a study plan, be kind to yourself. Give yourself time to attend review
lectures, to wake up late, to be lazy, to go out and to have fun. The bar test is
difficult enough without making yourself sick because of unrealistic
expectations.
Do not compare yourself with other reviewees. We all have our own
rhythm. Listen to yours. Bar preparation is an individual task. It is ultimately
your understanding of the law and its varied nuances, not how many readings
you do, or the laws that you memorize verbatim that makes the difference.
Be physically fit. Try to get regular exercise. Eat nourishing meals. Get
enough sleep every day. Take vitamins and supplements. Manage your stress.
Remember, all your efforts will be wasted when your body bogs down.
Use your time wisely. Sit in a review class or do personal reading? If you
know the subject well enough, refresh yourself by attending review classes. If
not, read up first. Review classes assume a certain level of knowledge and,
without it, you?ll be lost during the discussion and waste valuable time. Know
1. Manuel, Mark Anthony N. 2015 Bar Exams Notes | Bar Techniques and Bar Reports

that you still have the pre-week review for all those ?bar tips? that most your bar operations team to include abbreviated facts in the updates,
reviewers give. because bar questions are often facts-based.

Abandon all emotional problems. Inform your family and friends about what Pray. Pray. Pray.
you are going through in preparing for and in taking the exam. Ask for their
understanding and support. The last thing you need is additional source of A final reminder. There is no shortcut to passing the bar. If you want to pass
stress when preparing for the bar is draining enough. Avoid all distractions. on the first take, you have to put in the hours, and get yourself in the mood
Keep your focus. to study. Do not focus on things you cannot control (e.g., bar examiners,
kinds of questions). Devote all your energies to studying and positive
Perfect your handwriting and grammar. Bar examiners have to go through thinking. Good luck!
thousands of exam booklets, and they are only human. As would any other
normal person, they appreciate, and understand more, an answer that is at
the very minimum, readable and logical. All three topnotchers have good
handwriting, and believe that their passing, nay topping, the bar was in large
part due to this. So, practice writing neatly, legibly and fast.

If you are a visual person write down your notes. This exercise will aid your
quest for a beautiful penmanship, and help you retain the facts and the law
that may be difficult to retrieve as you store more information in your brain
bank.

Study smartly. Streamline. Codal provisions, a good reviewer for each subject
and updates on jurisprudence should suffice. Master the basics. Understand
the substance of the law and how to apply it to given situations. Recall legal
provisions during your spare time. Listen to audio codals when you travel. OBSERVATION ON THE 1980 PHILIPPINE BAR EXAMINATIONS
FULL REPORT BY JUSTICE A. MELENCIO-HERRERA
Ask for updates. Doctrines that you have studied in school may have already
been overturned or modified by the Supreme Court or by Congress. Request
1. Manuel, Mark Anthony N.
The following are excerpts from the actual reports of the 1980 Bar Examiners
submitted to, and released to the law schools by, Madam Justice Ameurfina
Melencio-Hererra, Chairperson of the 1980 Committee on Bar Examinations. I
have already made a summary of this report and has posted it in this blog in
the post entitled “How to pass the Philippine bar exams.” However I believe
that law students and law professors will gain more by reading the full report.
Although this report was made more than 27 years ago, the lessons that can
be gleaned are timeless and can still very much apply to those who will be
taking the Philippine bar exams. This report is also useful for law professors
and law schools as this will help us re-evaluate our teaching methods in order
to effectively help our students hurdle the hardest exam in the Philippines,
the bar exams.
The report starts out with these interesting observations:
1. With a relatively few notable exceptions, I observed a deficiency in the
examinees’ ability to express properly and concisely their answer to the
questions.
2. Likewise, with a few notable exceptions, the analytic or logical process left
much to be desired.
3. Knowledge of the fundamental legal principles was lacking in many
instances.
4. Only in a few instances was there a command of the English language.
Recommendation for consideration
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1. The elevation of the standards of legal education and instruction, i.e., a
more intensive preparation in the legal fundamentals necessary for the
assumption of office as a member of the Bar.
2. Require additional courses even in law school proper in the fields of English
composition and grammar for those who are deficient in their ability to
express and convey their ideas.
Additional recommendation on the grading system
The present grading system tends lo lay stress on competitive performance.
And yet, difference in decimal points could be subjective and may not do
justice to the competitors, Perhaps, the shift should be towards the
assessment of each, individual candidate’s performance. I would categorize
the candidates’ performance into just three (3) classes, namely: (1) failure, (2)
passing and (3) outstanding without giving any grades in specific figures.
Finally, the unknown identity of the examiners even among themselves
(except to the Chairman) until the final submission of the candidate’s
performance is to be commended as a meritorious feature in the conduct of
Bar examinations and should be adopted as a norm for future examinations.
It is obvious that it insulates the examiner from unhealthy representations on
the part of interested parties and it should encourage a more respectful
attitude towards the Bar examinations.
1. Very many examinees, to put it mildly, “murder” the English language.
Some are worse than high school undergraduates.
1. Manuel, Mark Anthony N.
2. They fail to analyze and understand the question thoroughly, where
oftentimes the answer is found or suggested in it.
3. They base their answer not on the specific import or meaning of the
question but on the association they believe the question has with a vague
knowledge of the legal provision that instantly comes into their minds. The
results is an answer given without reflection that obviously misses the point
or fails to obtain full credit.
4. There are few examinees who just do not have the mental capacity for the
law profession. Taking the examinations for any number of times may only be
an exercise in futility.
5. Handwritings of some are difficult to read or “decipher”. Apparently, the
examinees concerned do not make any sincere or serious effort to make
them readable.
The ink used spreads or the ballpen is too fine or light and blue. Both make
correction of the papers an ordeal to the examiner who has to change his
correction speed to very slow.
6. Many examinees also need, aside from the English language, a refresher
course in logic. They give inconsistent or conflicting positions in one answer
and do not know how to analyze problems.
7. Many examinees do not follow instructions. Few give a “Yes” or “No”,
making the examiner guess just what they mean in their vague discussion.
2015 Bar Exams Notes | Bar Techniques and Bar Reports
Others copy the question first before answering. Still others over several
pages and making correction difficult, or they write on both sides of the page.
8. Many examinees do not review their answers. Many answers have been
found lacking not only several words but important ones as well which spell
the difference between correct and wrong answers.
1. Many candidates did not know specific provisions of the Civil Code on Torts
and Damages. This may be due to the fact that the subject of Torts and
Damages was not given much attention in the basic law course and in the bar
review because in the past, this field of law was rarely the subject of the bar
questions. And yet, the importance of this branch of civil law cannot be
ignored considering that most civil cases filed in our courts involved torts and
damages. Our lawyer must, therefore, be more familiar with this important
branch of civil law before they are allowed to practice. I respectfully
recommend that in future bar examinations torts and damages be listed
among the divisions of civil law to be considered in the bar examinations.
2. Many candidates were familiar with cases decided by the Supreme Court
and some even mentioned their titles. Unfortunately, however, a good
number did not know the fundamental legal principles enunciated in such
decisions. Considering that under the civil law system, which is the system
followed in the Philippine, the rules of law are found in the codes, unlike the
common law where the law is found in the cases, it is evident that a
knowledge and understanding of the law as found in the codes is more
important than a knowledge of the cases. In actual litigations most cases are
resolved by the very law itself and the problem for the lawyer and court lies
1. Manuel, Mark Anthony N.
more in finding the specific law applicable to the case rather than find a
decided case on which to base a decision. Therefore, with all due respect, I
submit that more emphasis should be given in the bar examinations on the
knowledge of the law and the fundamental principles rather on the
knowledge of specific cases.
3. I agree that definitions and distinctions, enumerations and memory work
should not be the criteria in the bar examinations and that all bar questions
be in the form of problems and cases. But may I suggest and recommend that
the problems and questions be based on codal provisions and fundamental
principles of civil law which law practitioners are likely to face in their practice
rather than extra practitioners are likely to face in their practice rather than
extra ordinary situations that rarely confront our courts and practitioners.
4. A number of candidates could not write legibly. I found it hard to read their
answers and much time was wasted in deciphering what they wanted to say.
Bar candidates should be advised to write legibly.
5. Many candidates did not use the proper tenses. Bar candidates should be
advice to be more careful with their tenses and try to aim at clarity in their
answer.
6. Some candidates do not follow the numbers correlatively in answering the
questions. They jump over some numbers and do not indicate where the
answer may be found thus making the correction more difficult, confusing
and time consuming.
2015 Bar Exams Notes | Bar Techniques and Bar Reports
7. Some candidates have resorted to what they called “alternative answer” by
discussing both sides of the problem and arriving at opposing conclusions.
Considering that most problems in the bar have to sides the appraisal and
grading of those “alternative answer become more difficult. In my view this
should be avoided.
Except for some exceptions, the ability of the examinees to present their
opinions and thoughts on the questions asked was creditable. There were
misspelling wrong grammar and a number of omissions but they are
acceptable and not glaring, considering the pressure on the examinees and
the time constraints.
What is apparent, however, is the general misconception of the principles of
taxation in relation to the whole context of taxation, as well as its practical
application especially in the light of other applicable laws. Reading the
answers, it seems that the approach to taxation is divided into two
approaches. One is that taxation is a necessity and, therefore, tax laws must
be legal. Second thought is that taxes are burdens on the citizenry and,
therefore, must be considered illegal The Method of teaching taxation must
have been rather simplistic with no aim to apply the tax laws on our day to
day dealings. As this was apparent, the undersigned tended to be more
lenient in her corrections of the test papers.
It is observed that using December 31, 1979 as the cut-off date for sourcing
the questions is rather restrictive and does not give the examiner sufficient
leeway especially in topics where major changes, even on concepts, are
effected by the government. Since most of the students will be taking pre-bar
1. Manuel, Mark Anthony N.
review, wouldn’t April or May be a better date? At least questions will be
more current.
The procedure by which the test papers were given to us, the checks and
counter checks by the bar confidant and others who were participating in the
handling of the test papers to maintain the integrity of the bar leaves nothing
to be desired. Full cooperation was given by them.
1. The 1980 Examinations, under the strict monitoring and guidance of the
Chairman, have succeeded in maintaining the complete confidentiality of the
identities of the BAR examiners. This was achieved by the adoption of the
following measures:
2. The poor grammar, limited vocabulary, redundancy and unorganized
presentation of the issues involved have a caused a telling effect of the
percentage of passing in Mercantile Law.
3. The allocation of certain percentages on the number of question given to
each subdivision of the bar subject has assured a uniform stress, thereby
avoiding the concentration of questions on a particular law or subdivision.
4. Despite the written instructions, a great number of the examinees have
repeated verbatim the facts of the case and the question. This has wasted the
examiner’s time and effort in correcting the papers.
On November 16, 1980, there were 1,798 bar candidates who took the
examination in criminal law, out of this number, 594 successfully passed or
2015 Bar Exams Notes | Bar Techniques and Bar Reports
33%, while 1,204 failed, 221 of whom are disqualified for having obtained a
grade below 50%.
1. Substandard collegiate or academic training, resulting in the insufficient
knowledge of the law and its application; and
2. Inadequate command of the English language.
These observations may be properly shown by quoting answers of a certain
examinees to a question thus propounded as follows:
Question No. 6(b) – “An accused was found guilty of double murder and was
meted out two sentences of reclusion perpetua. How would be the accused
serve the sentences?”
Answer – “Both penalties must be served by the accused, and he was
electrocuted and died then it washes out the remaining sentence to served
by the accused.”
Quoted hereunder is another question to which the examinees concerned
gave his answer as follows:
Question No. 11. – “Patrolman Cruz, acting under orders of the Municipal
Mayor, Who wanted to put a stop to the frequent occurrence of robbery in
Sitio Masukal, patrolled the place. At about midnight, seeing three persons
acting suspiciously in front of an uninhabited house and entering the same,
he arrested them without warrant and took them to the municipal building
1. Manuel, Mark Anthony N.
where they were detained in jail for about five hours before they where
released.
Patrolman Cruz was accused of arbitrary detention. If you were the Judge,
would you convict him of the crime charged?”
Answer – “No. considering his possession as peace officer by the higher
authority to patrol the place where robbery are frequent. The one
responsible for this is the Municipal Mayor who order without warrant of
arrest and the act of the patrolman are in good faith believing to be a robbery
entering a house.
So the proper party liable is the Municipal Mayor.”
Most, if not all, who obtained failing grades have different unique ways of
answering questions which only tends to show either because of poor
scholastic training or lack of preparation not only in their collegiate or
academic courses but may also be traceable to their primary and secondary
education.
The majority of those who failed in the subject have also manifestly shown
their poor command of the English language, such that certain examinees
may probably know the law nut they lack the ability to express themselves.
The results is that, one will find it very difficult to understand what they really
wanted to convey in their answer to the question propounded.
As an example, I hereby refer to the answer of another examinee to question
No. 17. herein below quoted as follows:
2015 Bar Exams Notes | Bar Techniques and Bar Reports
Question No. 17 – “AA” was the owner of a jeepney for hire. When his driver
was hospitalized, he hired “BB” as driver on a temporary basis and entrusted
to him the vehicle for transporting passengers from Quiapo to Baclaran with
a compensation of P30.00 a day. “BB” never returned the vehicle and after
search the vehicle was found in Tarnate, Cavite, About to be sold. “BB” was
charged with Qualified Theft and was convicted .
Appealing the judgment of conviction, defense counsel contends that “BB”
may have committed Esta fa but not Qualified Theft on the theory that the
position of the vehicle was obtained with the consent of “AA” the owner, and
therefore, there was no illegal taking.
Decide the case.”
In answer thereto, the particular examinees gave the following answer:
“The defense counsel of the accused contention in untenable assuming now
that there is no illegal taking of the jeep from “AA”. The owner but “BB” a
temporary driver hired by “AA” failure to return the jeep such vehicle as now
ready to be sold by “BB” have an intent to gain is theft cases as an element.
It may not be amiss to state in this connection, that there are also hundreds
of them whose penmanship is almost illegible.
Several examinees have made very unsatisfactory showing to such an extent
that there is one who obtained a grade as low as 7% another obtained a
grade of 11%; still some others obtained grades of 12%; 16%; 17%; 18%; 19%;
20%; 21%; 24%; 25%; 26%; 27%; 31%; 34%; etc.
1. Manuel, Mark Anthony N.
Due to this very poor showing of a considerable number of examinees, in
order to avoid unnecessary waste of time, money and energy and in order to
give the students concerned advice to shift to other course before it is too
late, it is suggested that before a law student is allowed to enroll in the
College of Law proper, he should first pass an entrance examination, to be
given under the supervision of the Supreme Court. More or less, the
examination to be given should cover the following subjects: (1) Elementary
Law; (2) Logic; (3) English and Composition, etc.
It is further suggested that in order to afford bar examinees a better
opportunity to pass the given subjects, at least 30 questions should be
propounded in each subjects and the examinees allowed to answer a choice
of twenty questions.
(1) The candidates should be required to write their answers on every other
line, thus leaving a blank space between lines. This will facilitate correction,
especially as many scrawl their answers and there is abundance of poor
penmanship. Beside, almost all notebooks are less than half-filled so that
there will be no problem of pages to write on.
(2) Answer should be separated from one another by at least two space-lines.
This will facilitate identification of answer and obviate the review (resulting in
time consumed, which could be otherwise invested in further correction) of
questions overlooked by the candidate or not answered at all.
(3) Unless there is a very imperative reason for requiring the examiner to
date every initial, this should not be required. Too much time is wasted.
2015 Bar Exams Notes | Bar Techniques and Bar Reports
(4) A device should be adopted so that the examiner will not have to write on
two separate grading sheets. Instead carbonized paper or similar duplicatory
means, should be used. This will eliminate errors committed while
transposing the grades on the second grading sheet, and more important, it
will save time. More than half an hour is consumed every time grades of 25
notebooks are duplicated on the grading sheet (or an average of more than
three hours per 200 notebooks) – time which could, instead, be spent
correcting notebooks.
It with be noted that no suggestions on “substantive” aspects have been
made because the writer believes that she is still not in a position to suggest
further development in that respect.
I. Conduct of the Examination
As far as I know there has been no word, whether publicly made or circulated
in whisper, of any leakage of questions or even merely of the identities of the
examiners. The story going around, according to a law faculty member of the
UST and lecturer at the U.P. College of law, is that in the Bar examinations
there was only one examiner for all the subjects: Justice Herrera herself.
While this rumor may be laced with some humor, it points up nonetheless
the successful safeguarding of the integrity of the examination.
1. Manuel, Mark Anthony N.
II. Showing of the Examinees
In Legal Ethics and Practical Exercise , 620 examinees out of 1,792 applicants
(or 34.6%) obtained a grade of 75% or higher. 1,172 failed to make the
passing grade; included in this number are 119 applicants whose grades were
lower than 50%. Grades ranged from a high of 93% to a disquieting low of
7%. A profile of grade-distribution is appended to this report.
The examinees inhabiting the lowermost rungs of the grading scale
manifested not alone an appalling lack of knowledge of the fundamental
principles involved in the examination questions but also an inability to
logically string their thoughts together compounded by an almost incredible
deficiency in language skills.
That is not to say that everyone who received higher grades demonstrated no
language difficulties. It may in fact be justifiably said that a commendable
command of language is the fortune of but a few of the examinees.
III. Other Matters
(a) Comment on the relative weight of legal Ethics.
Rule 138 allocates the combination of Legal Ethics and Practical Exercise a
relative weight of 5% in the Bar examination. Because of the joinder of these
two non-homogeneous subjects, it has of course been necessary to apportion
the rather meager 5% between Legal Ethics on the one hand and, on the
other, Practical Exercise. In this year’s examination. The apportionment is
70% for the first and 30% for the other.
2015 Bar Exams Notes | Bar Techniques and Bar Reports
In overall terms, therefore, the effective relative weight of Legal Ethics is only
3.5% (this being 70% of 5%), and that of Practical Exercise 1.5% (being 30% of
5%).
One question that may be asked is whether it is worth examining Bar
applicants in full subjects with effective relative weights that, by
mathematical calculation, would require almost 30 points (in Legal Ethics) or
some 67 points (in Practical Exercise) to effect a single point differential in the
overall Bar examination average of an examinee.
A more basic observation, however, arises out of a comparison between Legal
Ethics 3.5% and Taxation’s 10%. The relative weight of the first is only a third
of the second, But we do know that ethics is bedrock matter to the
profession. While its articulation in codal or canonical form may vary from
time to time, the basic principles by which a lawyer’s conduct must ever be
guided are virtually unchanging, if these are not at all unchangeable. On the
other, tax laws in particular undergo changes with rapidity that leaves even
the tax practitioners gasping in trying to catch up, so that passable knowledge
of tax laws now could mean nothing after we no more than a few years. Yet,
taxation in effect is recognized in quantitative terms as three times more
important than legal ethics.
It may be a manner if looking at the conclusion of Legal Ethics in the Bar
examination, considering the feathery weight allocated to the subject, as but
a grudging concession to the ethical aspects of the ancient and honorable
profession of the law.
1. Manuel, Mark Anthony N. 2015 Bar Exams Notes | Bar Techniques and Bar Reports

May not a re-appraisal be in order? techniques in issue identification and not simply to know what the law is. I
use this as an example because many examinees in Legal Ethics and Practical
(b) The Bar examination as a device to re-orient the educative process.
Exercise went off-track in problem-solving due to error in perceiving the
While passing the Bar examinations has not been conceded by the law issues.
schools as an end in the educative process of a lawyer, Dean Irene Cortes has
The possibilities of the Bar examination as a device with which to trigger off
noted that.
the orientation can only be expressed in general terms here. Obviously, the
***what has developed in most schools is that it has become the principal fashioning of specifics will require a detailed study.
goal. The curriculum, method of instruction, the review courses in the fourth
year-all contribute to emphasize this.”

It seems from the observation of Dean Cortes that the currently predominant
stress in instruction has been a sort of reaction to Bar examinations which
have largely been a test of knowledge of the law’s content, with scant
requirement for demonstration of the applicant’s proficiency in analytical and
reasoning techniques associated with the exercise of the profession of the
law.

This caused-and-effect relation, so far productive of less than ideal results,

indicates that it is possible to cause a re-orientation of the stress in
instruction in the law schools by institutionalizing the type of Bar examination
that, to enable their law graduates to hurdle the same, would compel the law
schools to shift their emphasis instruction towards techniques rather than
mere content. For instance, If it were regularly made a part of the Bar
examination questions involving problem-situations to ask the examinees to
identity the issue, law schools would have to teach their students the