MANILA, Philippines – Seven years after falling just two questions short of the REELE Top 10, a Cebu-based electrical engineer has turned that near-miss into a remarkable comeback by topping the August 2026 Mechanical Engineers Licensure Examination (MELE).
Junry Vistal of the University of Cebu–Main emerged as the MELE topnotcher with a rating of 92.20 percent, leading 1,362 passers out of 3,686 examinees.
The achievement came seven years after Vistal narrowly missed the Top 10 in the August 2019 Registered Electrical Engineers Licensure Examination (REELE) by only two questions.
“Being only a few questions away from becoming a REELE topnotcher made me realize the importance of preparation and consistency,” Vistal told Lakandiwa, the official student publication of the University of Cebu.
“I knew I'm not doing great with my preparation sa REELE board exam and yet, two questions away ra ku sa topnotcher” (I knew I wasn’t doing well with my preparation for the REELE, yet I was only two questions away from becoming a topnotcher), he recalled.
The experience made Vistal realize that better preparation could have changed the outcome, giving him a lesson he would carry into his next licensure examination.
“So in my mind, maybe if saktu aku’ng preparation, ma-top g'yud ku” (So I thought that maybe if I had prepared properly, I could have become a topnotcher), Vistal said.
Rather than allowing the previous disappointment to pressure him, Vistal used it as motivation to approach his MELE preparation differently.
“Instead nga ma-pressure, I used it as motivation to prepare better—to stay consistent,” he said.
Vistal said he began preparing for the MELE even before enrolling in the program, making consistency a key part of his strategy.
Whenever exhaustion set in, he reminded himself why he started and used that purpose to keep going.
His achievement is particularly notable because he currently serves as a faculty member and instructor in Electrical Engineering at the University of Cebu, while pursuing another engineering discipline.
The Provincial Government of Bohol also congratulated Vistal, a native of Inabanga, for bringing pride to his hometown and province through his achievement.
At the University of Cebu, Vistal’s victory adds to the institution’s tradition of producing licensure examination topnotchers.
The university is also known for rewarding its top-performing graduates with major incentives, traditionally including a brand-new car or a cash prize of up to P500,000.
Yet beyond the title and recognition, Vistal’s story offers a powerful reminder that falling short can sometimes become the preparation for a greater achievement.
What once left him two questions short of the REELE Top 10 became the motivation to prepare better, stay consistent, and ultimately discover how far he could go.
— The Summit Express
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