Atadero on topping the Bar: ‘I just wanted to pass’

Raoul Angelo Atadero

MANILA, Philippines — All Raoul Angelo Atadero wanted was to pass the Bar.

“After each and every difficult test, I just wanted to pass,” Atadero, 27, valedictorian of Ateneo Law Class 2011, told INQUIRER.net in an interview.

That’s why, Atadero said, it came as a shock to him when he emerged 2011’s Bar topnotcher. “I really didin’t expect to do this well,” he said after he found many of the test questions difficult.

“I’m still trying to process what this all means,” said Atadero, who in a television interview, expressed his intention to become a corporate lawyer.

Atadero got a grade of 85.536 percent followed by another Atenean, Luz Danielle Bolong, with 84.556 percent; Cherry Liez Rafal-Roble of Arellano University got 84.455 percent; Rosemil Bañaga of Notre Dame University in Cotabato City, 84.122 percent; Christian Louie Gonzales of the University of Santo Tomas, 84.094 percent; Ivan Bandal of Silliman University, 84.091 percent; Eireene Xina Acosta of San Beda College, 84.066 percent; Irene Marie Qua, also of Ateneo, 84.057 percent; Elaine Marie Laceda of the Far Eastern University-De La Salle University Juris Doctor-MBA program, 84.040 percent; and Rodolfo Aquino, also of San Beda, 83.728 percent.

When asked how he prepared for the exam, Atadero said that apart from the usual preparations,  he really prayed a lot.

“I started studying late April [last year], up to the bar exams in November. As for special preparations, I pretty much did what all the other students did. I studied as much as I can daily and I prayed a lot.”

But Atadero said despite the pressure of studies, he found time to go out with friends although “these outings were quite rare”.

“I would be dishonest if I claimed to have become a hermit during the time,” he said.

Asked what he thought of the multiple choice questions-type examination first done in their batch, Atadero said it was “both a blessing and a curse”.

He said that if you were “lucky enough” to identify right away which among the choices were the correct answer, “then great.”

But if not, “you end up gambling on an answer or plain guessing” as there were some questions where more than one of the choices fit, Atadero said.

“So, it was both easier and harder,” he said.

Atadero said his inspiration in taking the Bar was his family whom he wanted to make proud.

Atadero, the second in a brood of four, would be the first lawyer in their family.

Asked if he wanted his siblings to be lawyers too someday, Atadero said: “While I’d love for them to be lawyers too, they’ll be the first to profess a disinterest in the field.”

Atadero has been working with Puno and Puno Law Offices while waiting for the results of the Bar.