Silliman University (INQUIRER FILE PHOTO)
DUMAGUETE CITY, Negros Oriental — Exuberant Dumaguetenos filled social media pages with congratulatory messages to the three Bar topnotchers from Silliman University, as well as to the other successful passers of one of the hardest and definitely the most celebrated licensure examinations in the country.
This is the first time for Silliman University to have three Bar topnotchers: 2nd placer Alana Gayle Ashley Khio, 9th placer Marie Chielo Ybio, and 10th placer Andrew Stephen Liu.
Lawyer Shiela Lynn Catacutan-Besario, dean of the SU College of Law, said the whole Silliman community was on cloud nine upon receiving the news.
Mock bar
For the first time — and apparently, this did wonders — Silliman introduced the mock bar exams under the auspices of lawyer Golda Benjamin, one of their newest faculty members.
Dean Besario said they also intensified their review classes and the Juris Doctor thesis program.
Benjamin said she was inspired to introduce the mock bar exams to teach students how to write clear, short, and organized answers to suit the classic CRA format (conclusion, rule, application of the rule).
Since a bar examiner checks more than 50 booklets a day, a student will most likely score low if the answers are not well-written, according to Benjamin.
“We aimed to write only half-page answers consisting of three to four sentences,” she said.
Benjamin said that everyone put in a lot of hard work in achieving the 87 percent passing of their graduates. She also lauded the humility of their students who opened themselves up to mentoring and who went through the same preparations that their Manila counterparts have been known to go through.
Incentives
Second placer Alana Gayle Ashley Khio is also assured of a brand new car from local lawyers Frank and Whelma Yap, both alumni of the Silliman University College of Law.
The Yaps earlier pledged to give a brand new car to anyone who could place fourth in the Bar, in keeping with Frank Yap’s achievement of being 4th place in the 1966 Bar examinations.
Khio is also guaranteed a cash incentive of $4,000, while 9th placer Marie Chielo Ybio and 10th placer Andrew Stephen Liu are assured of $2,000 each from US-based Silliman alumni Dr. Rolando V. del Carmen and his wife Erlyn.
The Yaps and the Del Carmens made their pledges in October 2016 to the Silliman graduates who would place 2nd, 3rd or 4th places in the Bar exams.
The Del Carmens also pledged $5,000 to any Silliman alumnus who would top the Bar; $3,000 to anyone who would place 5th, 6th and 7th; and $1,000 to anyone who would graduate with honors.
They also pledged to donate $1,000 to the law faculty if the graduating class obtained a 100 percent passing. Andrew Stephen Liu said he was overwhelmed at being in 10th place, but added that he was just so happy to pass the Bar.
He said he put in 10 hours of study time every day, and had some time to rest his mind, like going to the mall once a week.
He said he was most confident in political law and taxation but had difficulty in criminal and remedial law. Liu said he would forever remember the teachings of his favorite teachers, lawyers Levi Estolloso, Norberto Denura, and Edward Sedillo. SFM