Three-peat for Ateneo: Bar topnotchers from 2010-2012 are high school batch mates

"I'm very happy that for the last two years the topnotchers are Ateneans and my friends. Pinag-uusapan nga naming kanina na naka-3peat kami," said Ingles.  In separate messages on Friday, Atadero and Singzon told GMA News Online that they have known each other since freshman year at the Ateneo High School. "That’s around 15 years now. We were classmates for four straight years there," said Atadero. "High school is definitely filled with highlights," added Singzon. Atadero said his fondest memory of Ingles was how "genuinely friendly" he was. "I was a new student then (I didn’t go the Ateneo for grade school), and this really made an impression. Because Ari was my seatmate for a period in High School, I will always remember seeing him sleep in class, then end up scoring highest in our tests. He was just that brilliant," he said.

All three — Singzon, Atadero, and Ingles — also took their pre-law courses at the Ateneo de Manila University. Singzon took up AB Economics, Atadero BS Management minor in Economics, and Ingles BS Management major in Communications Technology Management. But although they took different courses, Atadero said they were still classmates in some classes and they had common friends which usually let them run into each other several times a week. "After college, we were able to stay in touch since we all eventually went to the Ateneo Law School. We would encounter each other there a few times a week and occasionally ask each other for advice on common teachers and subjects," he said. Atadero, however, said they entered Ateneo Law School at different times due to some circumstances. Singzon entered Ateneo Law School in 2006 right after college while Atadero entered in 2007 after working for a year.  On the other hand, Ingles enrolled in 2008 after studying in China and helping out the Ateneo Football Team. "Since we entered law school on different (successive) years, we also graduated on different (successive) years. We took the bar exams immediately after we graduated law school, so we ended up taking it on different (successive) years as well. There was no agreement to enter law school, graduate, or take the bar in turns," said Atadero.   Singzon and Atadero graduated valedictorian while Ingles was salutatorian at the Ateneo Law School. Atadero said it was after Singzon topped the 2010 Bar exams when they first started joking about pulling off the Bar three-peat. "I was teased about topping the bar exams back-to-back. When I actually did rank first in the 2011 bar exams, it was Mickey’s turn to get pressured into doing a three-peat," he said. "[When] Mickey actually pulled off a three-peat, we mainly just joked that we would’ve disowned each other had someone broken the trend," he added. 'Lot of prayers, hard work' Singzon attributed their feat to "dedication and hard work, as well as a lot of prayers and help from family, teachers, friends, and Aquila." "Definitely the training that we got in Ateneo from high school to law school played a big part," he added. Atadero also said that apart from the "outstanding quality of education" at Ateneo, he said it instills a "culture of excellence" in students that make them want to be outstanding at whatever they do. "In our particular case, I think there’s always pressure to perform well if you’re a student from the Ateneo High School’s Honors section or an honor student in general. I think being able to channel that pressure and expectation well was key here," he said.