TIPS AND ADVICE: HOW TO PASS YOUR BOARD EXAM – CUSTOMS BROKER LICENSURE EXAMINATION?

    As a graduate of Bachelor of Science in Customs Administration, it is one of our biggest dreams to see our names someday on the list of successful board passers published by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC). 

I took the Customs Broker Licensure Examination in the year 2018, and I can still remember the preparation I did and those memorable days with my close batchmates and review mates while on our journey to our examination days (I used the word “days” because CBLE was prescribed to be taken in 2 consecutive days).

Okay, so before I reveal my own made pieces of advice in preparing and taking this licensure examination, I would like to discuss first what is Customs Broker Licensure Examination? 

So, what is Customs Broker Licensure Examination?

According to Republic Act number 9280, or also known as the “Customs Brokers Act of 2004”, Article III “Licensure Examination and Registration” those applicants who wanted to be registered and licensed as a professional customs broker shall undergo an examination, and this examination must be at least given once a year by the board. (It is the discretion of the board if they want to conduct more than one examination a year)

Who are those qualified applicants for this licensure examination?

According to R.A. 9280, Article III, section 16 “Qualifications of Applicants for Examinations”, the candidate shall at the time of filing his or her application meets the following qualifications:

1.He or she is a citizen of the Philippines OR of a foreign country qualified to take the examination as provided in the reciprocity provision of R.A. 9280.

(Well, the reciprocity provision applies if there will be a mutual recognition arrangement between our local government and with another foreign government that they will be acknowledged licensed customs brokers from the Philippines as licensed customs brokers too in their country, vice versa. You may also read the ASEAN Quality Framework for more of this reciprocity provision)

2. He or she is a holder of a bachelor’s degree in Customs Administration. (Unless you are already a holder of master’s degree in Customs Administration, regardless of what degree you have taken, and you have filed your application before March 30, 2009, as the republic act gave a 5-year grace period for the individual with that case to qualify for the examination) 

3. AND LASTLY, he or she is of good moral character and must not have been convicted of any crime involving moral turpitude.

At this point of reading, you must be able to identify yourself if you are technically qualified to take the examination. But in terms of readiness in other aspects of your life, have you asked yourself if 

“Am I ready to take this examination?”

Well, you cannot answer it yet but according to Benjamin Franklin, 

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”

One of the things needed in the preparation is to know what you are aiming for. Ask yourself, 

“What percentage I must obtain to pass?”

    Well, according to R.A. no. 9280, in Article III, SEC. 17, “Ratings of Examination”, the candidate must be able to obtain an average of AT LEAST Seventy-five percent (75%) in all subjects but NO RATING BELOW Sixty percent (60%) in any of the subjects prescribed by the board.

(During CBLE 2018, we only have 4 subjects to pass. These subjects are: (a) “Customs laws, Rules Regulations, Ethics and Customs Broker Practices”; (b) “Customs Documentations, Clearance and Procedures”; (c) “Tariff Laws, Rules, Regulations, and International Trade”; (d) and “Classification and practical computation”. 

On my first day of the examination, I took the subjects “Customs laws, Rules Regulations, Ethics, and Customs Broker Practices” and “Customs Documentations, Clearance, and Procedures”. While on the second day, I took “Tariff Laws, Rules, Regulations, and International Trade” and “Classification and practical computation”.

So now I familiarized you with some of the things you need to know about the technical matters with the customs broker licensure examination, let us now proceed to some of my tips and pieces of advice in preparing before the examination, during the examination, and after the examination.

FIFTEEN TIPS AND ADVICES TO YOUR CBLE JOURNEY

I break down my advice and tips into three parts, the pre-board, during the examination, and the post-examination. 

PRE-BOARD EXAMINATION

1. CONDITIONING AND COMPOSING THYSELF 

Well, before you enter a battle, the soldier, which is you, must be in good condition. We must be able to assess how are we and what are those aspects we have that are needing great conditioning and lesser conditioning. In terms of the aspects that we must consider, these are our mental, physical, and emotional aspects.

The Mental and Emotional Aspect

Many of us felt the extraordinary experience of isolation and the depressing impact of the pandemic due to the COVID-19 crisis. The isolation we felt and the sudden change of lifestyle might raise our anxieties at their peak. As we all know anxiety has so many bad effects on our mental health, especially with our concentration. We must be able to look for a kinder and more supportive support group for us able to improve our mental health status, these may be your family, (close) friends, or special ones.

Here are some of my tips on how I helped my mental health during my review days:

-         I avoid toxic people and things that will cause overthinking to me.

-         Avoid getting into petty arguments.

-         I sleep regularly, and sometimes a bit more (as it improves my concentration and retention very well)

-         Eat brain foods (such as nuts) & take memory supplements if you can afford them.

-         I pray a lot and do meditation.

*Just an additional tip: if you knew to yourself that you are suffering from a certain disorder, it is better to seek professional assistance for them able to assess and assist you*

MENTAL HEALTH IS THE SAME WITH PHYSICAL HEALTH!

I personally and highly recommend it to all people who are suffering a certain mental disorder to seek professional assistance, and please do not get scared to be judged as I assure you that this will help you a lot. #ISupportMentalHealthAwareness

The Physical Aspect

In terms of your physical aspect, at least you must be cautious on your daily routine and assess if your daily routine is good for your physical health. Consider the following things that will improve your physical health:

You must have enough sleep. According to Webmd.com, they mentioned that “most adults need 7 to 9 hours, although some people may need as few as 6 hours or as many as 10 hours of sleep each day”. In addition to that, you must correct your sleeping pattern where you must encourage yourself to be awake during the daytime and sleeping during the nighttime as the board examination is conducted during the daytime.

 Exercise your body – Okay, many of us might be too lazy to do this but at least help ourselves to do a simple exercise routine just to revitalize our body and mood, but if you can attend a moderate or extensive one, why not attend it? 

 According to lots of scientific studies, exercise not only improves your mood and boosts energy, but also sharpens your memory and thinking. Just to add-up, exercise helps you to combat anxiety and depression, as I tell you, you will meet these challenges along the way.

Eat Healthy foods – You must help yourself to eat those healthy ones, especially those foods for the brain. I used to snack peanuts while studying, but it depends on you, you can search further on the internet if what other foods you can intake. Just be mindful that we must take everything in moderation.

 

2) PREPARE ALL YOUR REVIEW MATERIALS

How do you prepare your review materials? Well, here are the following things that I gather during my review days:

Hand-outs, photocopies, and references (in electronic/hard copy)

Since you are already graduating (or already graduated), it is impossible and unbelievable that you do not even manage to secure copies of hand-outs given on your tutorials, classes, or seminars throughout your whole academic years. Or it is very surprising if you have not kept any of those logbooks with written memorandum orders, lectures, cases, or notes (especially if you are an alumnus/a of LPU-Manila, you know what I am referring to 😉).

*Apologies for the low-quality photo, these are some of the books and references I earned during my college years*

All of these earned hard or electronic references must be sorted based on its subject and if it is still useful to be used as your reference, for example, this memorandum order copy you have must be already repealed or amended, so you must be able to determine which is to archive and which is to retain.

*You may visit the official website of the Bureau of Customs to browse newly implemented orders of the Customs that will be helpful to your review*

The Examination Syllabus

You need to have a copy of the updated and legitimate syllabus of the examination for that year and plot your references based on that.

Visual Aids and Matrix

According to studies and based on my personal experience, visual aids can improve your memory retention. In creating your visual aids, only create visual aids for those topics which are difficult for you to grasp. For example, I am having a hard time memorizing the rates and formulae on how to compute excisable items, so I made a visual aid for that lesson. I guess you do not need to make a visual aid for those lessons where you are good at so you can save your time and resources.

Make sure that your DIY visual aid was visible and comfortable to your eyes and place them in a conspicuous place, and make sure that you will read them daily.

*Apologies for the low-quality video, I did not upload the said video till the day I saw the board exam result 😂. Baka kasi di talaga pumasa eh 😂*

(Additional tip: You may use your old photocopies for your visual aids instead of buying cartolinas or manila papers)

Questionnaires and Mock Test Papers 

These things either can be collected way back from your past classes or tutorials, especially during your pre-board review classes, or you may outsource self-made mock tests with your block mates, batchmates, or review mates.

Well, if you are looking for a published and tested mock test you can use, I highly suggest this book, “Reviewer for Customs Broker Licensure Examination, Masters the Basics of CMTA” authored by Ms. Jeanette M. Roxas, and Ms. Roberta L. Riga. 

I recommend this book to be used as one of your review materials as the set of tests will challenge your retention and understanding about R.A. 10863 or the “CMTA”. In answering it, I highly suggest you answer it with a timer so you can assess how long it takes you to answer a certain number of items.

 

3) KNOW YOUR STUDYING STYLE

In knowing your studying style, you must be able to determine whether you are the person who prefers to study alone or with a group. Way back when I was reviewing, most of the time, I review alone but I attend small group study sometimes.

You may also assess yourself if you are the person who is into reading, listening, or both. Well, in my case, I adopted reading and listening to my lessons. I used to record myself reading a certain law provision and I play my record while I am traveling to the review center.

 

4) CREATE AND STRICTLY STICK TO YOUR SCHEDULE AND DAILY/ WEEKLY GOALS

Creating your schedule and goals is one of the important things you should consider in your preparation. Therefore, here are the following things you must take note creating your schedule and achieving your goals:

- Use the prescribed syllabus by the board and pattern your schedule with the subjects on it. Try to sync your schedule in your review schedule with your review center schedule. Do not randomly pick a subject, plotting is better than randomizing.

- Develop a (healthy) routine so that your body won’t get confused when the day of your examination comes. For example, you set time for your exercise, meal, review, recreational, etc.

- Attend your review classes religiously. PLEASE DO NOT SKIP THEM! You might miss a topic that might be asked on the day of your examination that was discussed during the day you are not around. 

- Make your timetable. The time timetable will be helpful for you to have an overview and guide till when you must be supposed to cover a certain topic so you can still have enough time for other subjects.

- Establish your DO’s and DONT’s. You should personally know how to enumerate what’s on your list.

 

5) DO NOT PROCRASTINATE

- DO NOT INDULGE YOURSELF IN TOO MUCH NETFLIXING (this includes KDRAMA series) or BROWSING YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS, deactivate your social media accounts if you must. Distant yourself from things that will make you procrastinate.

 

6) FUEL YOURSELF WITH MOTIVATION

- Create your motivation board. You may write it anywhere as long it is conspicuous and readable that you can see it every day to bolster your motivation. “I write my whole name on my journal with the LCB title.”

- Be motivated with your family, friends, or by a special one. “This personally works for me.”

 

7) GIVE YOURSELF TIME TO REFRESH AND UNWIND

- Set resting and recreational hours and days. You may set your rest days the same as your schedule during your college days. You may either set your rest day(s) Saturday or Sunday or it can be both. Just be mindful that you need to take a rest so your mind and body would be able to breathe.

 

8) DISCERNING WHICH OF WHICH BOARD EXAMINATION SUPERSTITIONS YOU WANT TO ADOPT

Regarding this tip, it is an optional thing to adopt. But I have a few superstitions that I did before and after during my preparation and examination proper, and here are the following:

- “Wear and use your lucky color during the examination”, which mine is blue.

- “Make your pencils to be sharpened by top notchers”, so that you may also get their aura and luck and top the board examination.

- “Attending and completing novena masses of a certain church”, as the patron saint will help you to pray your prayer to be fulfilled. The most famous patron saint for Catholics is Saint Jude of Thaddeus, the patron saint of desperate cases and lost causes.

- “Kick your chair after your last exam” and “Do not look back at the examination room once you’re done with the final exam”, so that you will not repeat the examination and pass it.

There are so many other superstitions I have not mentioned, and you might encounter those along your journey.

 

9) CHECK AND ASSESS YOUR COMPLETENESS AND PROGRESS

Listed below are some of the things you need to check and asses:

9.1 Your Examination Application

- Be mindful that you need to comply with the documentary requirements for you able to take the licensure examination. Assess the completeness of your documents and track your progress.

9.2 Topic and Lesson Mastery

- It is important that you assess yourself every week if are you moving on with your set timetable in terms of the topics and lessons that you have already covered. Always assess it for you to gain confidence when the examination day comes.

You may also check the other aspects that you want to check about yourself since you are the only person who knows more than yourself.

10) TRUST YOURSELF AND TRUST WHAT YOU ACQUIRED

- it is normal that you will feel overwhelmed with all the readings you have done. Normally, there are times when you try to remember a certain topic and it does not come out as someone asked you to enumerate or identify it, you will remember it once it pops out on one of the choices on the day of your examination.

Trust yourself, your efforts, and your learnings.

 

DURING BOARD EXAMINATION

11) BE DILIGENT AND PUNCTUAL

A day before your examination day, you must prepare all the necessary things you need for your big day. Be mindful of the documents (notice of admission, etc.) and items (calculator, AHTN, pencil, pen, etc.) you need to bring with you.

In my experience, here are some notable things I brought during my examination days:

- A wristwatch, for me to track my time and seize the time efficiently;

-and a pair of disposable surgical gloves. Got this tip from a former examinee, we’ve been advised that the answer sheet’s very sensitive from folds, dents, and even to sweats. So, I used one because of my very sweaty hands. 

Additional tip: Keep away any liquid from your answer sheets, as the answer sheets given to you are irreplaceable. Handle it with extra care.

Be early, be at least 10-15 minutes early at your examination area so you can check and get familiar with the location or at least to get ready in case there are a few things needed to be attended to.

 

12) GROUND YOURSELF AND PRAY BEFORE STARTING THE EXAMINATION

Relax, breathe, do 10 inhale, and exhale if you must. Ground yourself and be 

­Do not get pressured by peers or groups, as much as possible avoid group discussions that will lower your morale.

DO NOT DISCUSS ANSWERS AFTER A CERTAIN EXAMINATION so you may maintain your confidence and morale.

 

13) READ INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY, AND ASK IF NEED SOME CLARIFICATIONS.

Just read the instructions carefully and at least read them twice. Do not get shy if the instruction is vague, the way you answer your examination correctly contributes a lot to your success. 

 

14) DO NOT RUSH ANSWERING YOUR EXAMINATION AND REVIEW YOUR ANSWER SHEETS 

You will be given an hour and/or more than an hour per subject to answer them all efficiently. Do not get pressured if you will be the last person who will leave the examination area, and finishing the examination in a jiffy does not give an impression that you are good with the said subject.

Reread all the questions per subject and there are instances that you get excited and you thought you answered it correctly, but while reviewing it you will realize that you did a mistake.

Additional tip: *You may use the given questionnaire as a scratch paper, but please handle your answer sheets with the utmost diligence, as it is so sensitive that the OMR machine might reject it if it has some obvious dents or unclear erasures*

In terms of guessing, I did a smart guess or a gut feeling guess; or the power of the letter “C”

Lastly, DO NOT LEAVE ANY ITEM UNANSWERED. Guess if you are uncertain. Leaving an unanswered item will guarantee that you will flunk the examination.

 

POST BOARD EXAMINATION

Congratulations! You have successfully finished the two days examination! Appreciate your braveness as not all examinees can return and finish the second as they have lost their will to continue. Please do not lose your cool and will. Keep on praying for a favorable result.

15) DISTRACT YOURSELF AND PRAY 

It’s time to distract yourself from thinking things about the examination. It is the time to catch-up with your sacrificed leisure and satisfies your bingeing self with whatever you are bingeing with. Do not also forget to pray (and/or meditate), and pray strength of heart and mind whatever will be the outcome of your preparations and efforts. 

That will be the end of this blog. The above-mentioned tips were personally adopted by yours truly, and some of them are some tips that I discovered after my examination. Hoping I contributed something to your board examination preparation.

Thank you for reading and share this if you find this informative and helpful! Share helpful things so that you may receive the same blessing.

(P.S. If you are an aspiring licensed customs broker and you are reading this, I am praying and rooting for your successful customs broker licensure examination. Hoping to see your name on the list of successful CBLE passers)