Supreme Court disqualifies some Bar takers for allegedly violating certain policies, Honor Code

The Supreme Court has disqualified some Bar examinees from the 2020/21 Bar Examinations for allegedly violating the “clearly polished policies of the Office of the Bar Chairperson and their Honor Code.”

The SC made the announcement on Sunday, Feb. 6 in a bulletin from Associate Justice and Bar Chairperson Marvic Leonen, who wrote that his office “received reports of examinees who deliberately entered the local testing centers without disclosing that they had previously tested positive for COVID-19; who smuggled mobile phones inside the examination rooms; and who accessed social media during lunch break inside the premises.” 

“For their infractions, I am exercising my prerogative as Bar Chairperson to disqualify these examinees from the 2020/21 Bar Examinations,” he declared, later clarifying that the decision only applies to this year’s tests. 

Leonen emphasized that he takes his “constant message of honor” to the exam takers seriously. “I owe it not only to those who risked their lives just to make the 2020/21 Bar Examinations happen despite all odds, but most especially to those examinees who could have taken the Bar Examinations were it not for their positive COVID-19 test results,” he said. 

The former Dean and Professor of Law at the University of the Philippines College of Law suggested that the disqualified examinees take some time to “reflect on what you’ve done, but know that you can still change your narrative. You will not end up as the examinee who lost your honor forever in your desperation to pass an examination.” 

“Learn from your mistake, and earn your honor back,” concluded Leonen.

A total of 11,378 people took the first part of the 2020/21 Bar examinations on Friday, Feb. 4. Around 219 were not able to take the exam as they tested positive for COVID-19.