The Supreme Court (SC) is set to administer on Sunday, Feb. 6, the last day of the two-day online and regionalized 2020-2021 bar examinations in 31 testing centers nationwide.
During the first day of the examinations last Friday, Feb.4, a total of 11,378 out of 11,790 law graduates who paid their registration fees showed up during the morning examinations.
The SC, through its Office of the Bar Confidant (OBC), has not released any data on how many of those who took the morning tests on Feb. 4 reported back to the testing centers in the afternoon and took the examinations.
The number of examinees who will take the examinations in the morning of Feb. 6 will be known at about lunchtime on the same day.
The first day of the examinations covered “The Law Pertaining to the State and Its Relationship with Its Citizens” (formerly Political Law, Labor Law, and Taxation Law) in the morning, and Criminal Law in the afternoon.
On Sunday, Feb. 6, the examinations will cover “The Law Pertaining to Private Personal and Commercial Relations” (formerly Civil Law and Commercial Law) in the morning, and “Procedure and Professional Ethics” (formerly Remedial Law, Legal Ethics, and Practical Exercises) in the afternoon.
Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo observed the first day of the examinations at the testing center of Angeles University Foundation in Pampanga.
Associate Justice Marvic M.V.F. Leonen, chair of the 2020-2021 bar examinations committee (BEC), was at the bar examinations command center at the College of Law of the University of the Philippines in Quezon City. Associate Justice Jhosep Y. Lopez joined Justice Leonen in the command center.
Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin S. Caguioa, the incoming BEC chair for the 2022 bar examinations, was at the St. Louis University in Baguio City.
During the first day of the examinations, a total of 115 examinees tested positive for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Justice Leonen said that “if one tested positive and you are a recovered case, already fulfilled the proper isolation period of seven days for the vaccinated and, I think, 14 or 21 days for unvaccinated, then even if you test positive, according to Department of Health (DOH) guidelines, you may already come out of isolation. My reading of the DOH guidelines, therefore, you can now enter our testing site.”
For those who tested positive for COVID and were not allowed to take the bar examinations, the SC “is saddened and pained,” Leonen said during his virtual press briefing last Feb. 4.
He pointed out that the SC cannot violate the protocols set by the national government and the local government units (LGUs) where the testing sites are located.
He also said that there are separate rooms in the testing sites for the vaccinated and the unvaccinated examinees. The testing sites also have an isolation site for those with “high level of suspicious infection.”
In the two-day bar examinations, examinees will use their own laptops but the software used by the SC will prevent all existing applications and operating systems. Cheating can also be detected by the SC’s software.
During the press briefing, Leonen was asked when will the Supreme Court (SC) release the results of the online examinations.
“Ang pwede ko lang sabihin (What I can only say) at the soonest possible time given the advances of technology that we have,” he replied.
Traditionally, results of previous bar examinations given annually in the month of November were released five or six months after the tests.
“Since we are doing the examinations now in a digital modality, there is a very high possibility na mas madali and checking (checking would be faster), Leonen added.