Unique Bar exams in the time of COVID

Eager but apprehensive. This combination of emotions best describes the feelings of Bar examinees today. Twice postponed in November 2020 and in November 2021, this Supreme Court-ordained government examination is unique in the annals of Bar examinations for a number of reasons.

First, the exams won’t be held in one university that can accommodate the 11,790 examinees but in 24 local testing centers located in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. In the 1970s, thousands of hopeful Bar examinees would go to Manila and take the exams at the Manuel Quezon University in Quiapo, to be followed years later at the De La Salle University on Taft Avenue, and finally at the University of Sto. Tomas on España. For four consecutive Sundays, morning and afternoon, examinees, their friends, and family members would troop to the examination site before the examinees queued to the assigned examination rooms. Not all examinees would finish the four Sundays because a good number would withdraw for health reasons, fear of the results after the first Sunday examination, and other reasons.

The second change is that instead of the traditional handwritten exam, the exams will be computerized, with the examinees using their laptops. This time, examiners will be spared the ordeal of reading bad handwriting, while the Supreme Court no longer needs to print thousands of examination booklets. In the end, this is good for the environment because less trees need to be cut down to produce paper.

The third difference is that examinees will not be graded numerically as in the past, starting in 1901, when the exams were started with only 13 Bar takers. This time, examinees will receive pronouncements on whether they (1) passed with exemplary performance, (2) passed, or (3) did not pass. Law schools will no longer wait with suspense and excitement to know who the top 10 passers are, and which school scored the most number of successful Bar takers. Whether this pass-fail method would be beneficial to the Philippine Bar and to law schools remains to be seen.

The fourth change is due to the COVID-19 pandemic, its variant Omicron, and the lingering effects of Supertyphoon “Odette.” These factors have substantially reduced the coverage of the Bar exams and revised its schedule. For two days (not four Sundays), on Feb. 4, 2022 (yesterday, Friday) and Feb. 6, 2022 (Sunday), the examinees will take four sets of examination encompassing the usual eight subjects, namely, (1) The Law Pertaining to the State and Its Relationship with its Citizens (formerly Political Law, Labor Law, and Taxation); (2) Criminal Law; (3) The Law Pertaining to Private Personal and Commercial Relations (formerly Civil Law and Commercial Law); and (4) Procedure and Professional Ethics (formerly Remedial Law, Legal Ethics, and Practical Exercises.) All examinees had also been advised to self-quarantine starting Jan. 9, 2022, or at least two weeks before the Bar examinations.

Will the innovations be permanent? These are what the Supreme Court calls pro hac vice (meaning, for this occasion only) because of the pandemic and a natural calamity. The leading light in introducing these reforms is the chair of the 2022 Bar examinations, Justice Marvic M.V.F. Leonen, former dean of the University of the Philippines College of Law, who is also known for his trailblazing ponencias. Knowing his track record of social sensitivity to the plea and plight of the marginalized and the vulnerable, especially at this time of the Omicron variant, I am sure he will be compassionate and fair to the Bar examinees.

The challenges to the Bar examinees with all these profound changes will be enormous. But with the innate Filipino virtues of resilience, optimism, and adaptability, they and the Supreme Court will be equal to the challenge. Our hope is that when these examinees pass the Bar, they will not be simply legal technicians or legal craftsmen but great-souled lawyers who will share their talents and gifts as lawyers in the time of the pandemic and thereafter, “pandemic lawyers” who will strive for a society that prizes goodness, that rewards honesty and decency, that honors integrity, and values a reverential fear of God Almighty.

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Rene V. Sarmiento is a professor of law and Bar examiner in the 2019 Bar examinations.

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