For this pair of twins who passed the Bar exams, it was never a competition

Twins Kathrine and Marie Enriquez, who are among the 2,103 Bar exam passers, told GMA News Online that in studying law and reviewing for the exam, they shared one book per subject and scheduled their study time. Talk about resourceful!

"We only bought one book for the both of us (except when required) and scheduled our study time for that subject," Kath told GMA News Online in an interview.

They have a pretty fair setup, too. Kath shared, whoever has to study the full cases first will be obligated to highlight key points so the next twin to study would only read the highlighted parts.

"It saves time and effort," they agreed.

Because they had each other, Kath and Marie agree that having a twin made studying law "lighter." 

"We would study together, we have the same set of friends, we helped each other even during recitations," Kath said.

Marie meanwhile shared that when one of them is called, the other would browse over the book or codal to help the person reciting, in case they don't know the answer.

"There was this one time during first year, I had a mental block during one recitation so Kath wrote the answer in her cold in big fonts to be easily read," Marie narrated.

The two said they have not yet tried saving each other from recitations by pretending to be the other twin, but they recalled they had a professor who  required one of them to wear a headband to distinguish one from the other.

"I was forced to wear a headband then," Kath laughingly said.

Kath and Marie said the only disadvantage of having a twin sister in law school is that they are easily recognized by professors and as such, would often be called for recitations.

"During the first days of class, when the professor would ask 'kambal ba kayo?' we know we are doomed," Kath said.

Although they were both zealous to finish law, it was never a competition between the two. 

"We motivate each other, and one scolds the other if the latter has lower grades," Kath said.

Kath and Marie who are also licensed certified public accountants said they always knew they wanted to become CPA-lawyers. The two in fact, work in competing auditing firms since their 1st year in law school.

Their parents, both have passed away, they say are their source of inspiration.

"We lost our mom when we were 12 years old and our dad during our last year in college. It was really our Papa's dream of becoming a CPA-Lawyer," Kath narrated.

Whenever things get tough in school they would think about their parents.

"We think of them, of their sacrifices, and their beaming faces because we know they are proud of us," Kath said.

Since losing their parents, Kath and Marie have had to shoulder half of their tuition fees until their 2nd year in law school with the help of their sister who is working from abroad.

The twins who studied law in the Arellano University of Law said, "Good thing, Arellano provides refunds to deserving students who get a maintaining grade."

Given all the sacrifices and hardships they went through, the two are overjoyed and relieved upon receiving the news that they are now officially lawyers.

"Our colleague from school called me and mentioned that we both passed," Kath narrated.

"It really did not sink in yet. I just said 'thank you,' [then] we messaged our siblings in our group chat and told them "may abogado na kayo."

"We felt happy and relieved then, knowing that our agonizing wait is finally over and that we are actually fulfilling our dreams."

Now that they are lawyers, they are planning to do corporate work, and since they have been doing tax practice since 2012, they plan to specialize in that field.

And when given the chance one day, Kath and Marie want to pay it forward through teaching law "to help others in reaching their dreams of becoming a lawyer."

A total of 2,103 candidates passed the bar, making up only 27.36% of the 7,685 examinees who completed the licensure test last November. — Jannielyn Ann Bigtas/LA, GMA News