SC: Bar examinees who violated honor code disqualified for 2020-21 exam
MANILA, Philippines — A number of takers of the 2020/21 Bar Examinations were disqualified for various breaches of the policies of the Office of the Bar Chairperson and the Honor Code, the Supreme Court announced Sunday.
To recall, 11,378 examinees took the exams on Friday morning at the 31 testing sites scattered in 22 local government units across the country — good for a 96.5% turnout in the first digital and localized test in the examination's history.
In an advisory, Associate Justice Marivic Leonen said that his office received reports of examinees who committed a number of violations of published policies including:
- Entering local testing centers without disclosing that they previously tested positive for COVID-19
- Smuggling mobile phones inside the examination rooms
- Accessing social media during their lunch break inside the premises
#Bar2020_21 Update: Read BAR BULLETIN NO. 39, S. 2022
— Philippine Supreme Court Public Information Office (@SCPh_PIO) February 6, 2022
DISQUALIFICATION OF BAR EXAMINEES WHO VIOLATED THE HONOR CODE#BestBarEver2020_21 pic.twitter.com/6MBKunl9eL
"For their infractions, I am exercising my prerogative as Bar Chairperson to disqualify these examinees from the 2020/21 Bar Examinations," Leonen wrote.
"I take my constant message of honor to the examinees seriously. I owe it not only to those who risked their lives just to make the [examination] happen despite all odds, but most especially to those examinees who could have taken the [exam] were it not for their positive COVID-19 test results."
Disqualifications apply only for the 2020-21 Bar Examinations, Leonen, the Bar Examinations Chairperson, said in the advisory. He did not disclose how many were disqualified.
"For now, reflect on what you have done, but know that you can still change your narrative. You will not end up as an examinee who lost your honor forever in your desperation to pass an exam. Learn from your mistake, and earn your honor back."
FROM INTERAKSYON: ‘Violation of law’: Bar chair warns examinees vs posting Notices of Admissions online
The Honor Code for Bar Examinees declares that examinees must not do “any act that can be construed as cheating or dishonesty by the Bar Chairperson or by the Supreme Court.”
Examinees under the code commit "to voluntarily isolate or quarantine myself and strictly follow all health protocols (including COVID-19 testing requirements) within the period required by the Bar Chairperson, so as not to infect others with the virus causing this pandemic."
"I understand that my carelessness with respect to isolation, quarantine, and health protocols will affect the future of others who, like me, aspire to pass and become lawyers," it reads.
Leonen also urged the approximately 219 bar examinees who could not take the exam after testing positive for COVID-19 to "not lose hope."
The figure was based on the Supreme Court-administered antigen tests and examinees who personally disclosed their status to Leonen's office. "Your time will come," he wrote.
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