Some Bar takers disqualified for violating honor code —Supreme Court

Some Bar examinees were disqualified for violating the policies posted by the Office of the Bar Chairperson and their honor code, the Supreme Court said Sunday. 

In a Bar bulletin, Associate Justice Marvic Leonen revealed that some examinees entered the local testing centers without declaring that they had "previously been infected with COVID-19, smuggled mobile phones inside the examination rooms and 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. I take my constant message of honor to the examinees seriously," wrote Leonen.

"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 added.

But he said the disqualification only applies to the 2020/21 Bar Examinations.

"For now, reflect on what you have done, but know that you can still change your narrative. You will not end up as the examiner who lost your honor forever in your desperation to pass an examination. Learn from your mistake, and earn your honor back," Leonen advised the disqualified examinees.

Also, Leonen bared that there are 219 Bar examinees who did not take the exams because they tested positive for the severe respiratory disease.

The Bar exams were initially scheduled from January 23 and 25, 2022 but moved to February 4 and 6, 2022 due to the coronavirus disease pandemic.

Health workers were at Bar exam venue entrances to take the body temperature of examinees to ensure minimum health and safety protocols are met. —Consuelo Marquez/KG, GMA News