Editorial

Dean Roberto A. Abad appointed Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the
Philippines

August 11, 2009, 7:06pm

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has appointed a legal educator and academic, the University
of Santo Tomas (UST) Civil Law Acting Dean Roberto A. Abad.

Born May 22, 1944, in Tondo, Manila, he completed his basic education in the public schools
and subsequently worked his way to college, graduating with a Bachelor’s degree from Manuel
L. Quezon University. He took his Bachelor of Laws from Ateneo de Manila, where he was in
the Dean’s Honor List despite working for his tuition.

Upon passing the Bar, he joined several law offices of distinguished lawyers, including the late
Senator Jose W. Diokno and former Chief Justice Fred Ruiz Castro. He worked at the Office of
the Solicitor General from 1975 to 1986, ending his stint as Assistant Solicitor General (the
equivalent
of an Associate Justice of the Court of Appeals) before he set up his own private firm in 1986.

His 22 years of private practice covered myriad industries and services like banking, oil, food
and beverages, shipping, port services, housing construction, motion pictures, and real estate. His
litigation experience covers labor, taxes, crimes, corporate disputes, intellectual property, family,
and commercial transactions.

The late Chief Justice Roberto Concepcion recruited Dean Abad from the Office of the Solicitor
General in 1978 to teach Political Law at the University of Santo Tomas where the Chief Justice
served as Dean. The UST law school eventually asked him to also teach Constitutional Law,
Administrative Law, Election Law, Law on Public Corporations, and Public International Law.
He became a bar reviewer in Political Law.

After leaving the Office of the Solicitor General in 1986 to go into private practice, Dean Abad
shifted to another line of expertise:

Remedial law. He has since been teaching Civil Procedure, Criminal Procedure, Special
Proceedings, Evidence, and Legal Forms. To develop the students’ skills in litigation work, he
also began teaching Legal Writing and Trial Technique. He has also been a Bar Reviewer at the
Ateneo de Manila University and University of Santo Tomas and has published numerous books
and articles.

Justice Abad is married to Atty. Victoria H. Martinez Abad with whom he has two children –
Atty. Blessilda Abad Gamo and Rex Niño Abad.

We congratulate Supreme Court Associate Justice Roberto A. Abad on his appointment to the
Highest Court of the land and wish him success in all his endeavo
By Delmar Cari�o
Inquirer Northern Luzon
First Posted 08:59:00 08/11/2010

Filed Under: Laws, Board Exams, Education

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines--To be able to radically change the types of tests
given in the bar exams, the Supreme Court intends to create a data bank or
central repository of multiple choice questions (MCQs) for the 2011 exams.
Supreme Court Associate Justice Roberto Abad, chairman of next year�s bar
exams, said at least 1,000 MCQs would be collected for each test subject to
be whittled down to at least 100 that will appear in the exams.
Abad met here Saturday with judges and lawyers who teach in the various
law schools in northern Luzon to tell them about the changes in the bar
exams.
He said multiple choice questions will replace the traditional problem-solving
or essay questions that have dominated the tests since 1901.
The MCQs, he said, are meant to address the flaws of the essay-type
questions which do not necessarily guarantee the makings of a good
practicing lawyer.
He said the essay questions suffered from defects. The questions followed
the classroom model which could not cover a wide section of the other laws.
Sometimes, incorrect answers merited high marks since these were
eloquently presented, he added.
He said other defects were inconsistency in correcting the tests due to the
mood of the examiners and the tendency of examinees to forget the basic
laws.
�Uniformity and fairness in correcting the papers were not assured since
about 6,000 notebooks had to be checked in five months,� he said.
On Saturday, more than 100 law teachers joined a workshop on formulating
MCQs so these could be adopted in their law school exams this year.
Some of those present found the task difficult and time-consuming, but most
said they welcomed the change.