SC fines, delists Bar coach
CEBU, Philippines — The Supreme Court (SC) has penalized a Bar examination review coach over a viral social media post claiming that artificial intelligence (AI) would be used to check the answers of examinees in the 2023 Bar examinations.
The high tribunal unanimously found Edgar Dizon, administrator of the Facebook group “Bar Law for Dummies,” guilty of indirect contempt and fined him P30,000. It also ordered his delisting from the list of 2016 Bar passers.
During the 2023 Bar examinations, Dizon posted on Facebook that the test would be “sorted, checked and corrected by means of artificial intelligence (AI).”
He also claimed: “ALWAYS START WITH A YES OR NO. Yan ang unang hahanapin ng AI Checking to sort out the correct answers.”
The SC had assured the public that the Bar examinations would be “checked by four human examiners for each subject, all of whom are experts in their respective fields.”
Despite the assurance, Dizon demanded a public apology and threatened to press charges.
The high court said “Dizon’s post unlawfully interfered with the conduct of the 2023 Bar Examinations and undermined the integrity of both the exams and the SC, which exercises supervision over the legal profession.”
“His post clearly conveyed that AI would sort and check examination answers. However, as a bar passer himself, he should have known that the examinations are evaluated by a committee of examiners appointed by the Court. As the SC emphasized, the examiners are “all warm bodies” and are neither powered nor guided by AI,” according to the SC.
The SC also cited Dizon’s apparent “lack of remorse,” as well as his unauthorized practice of law through Bar review coaching sessions and authorship of review materials, as factors in imposing the penalty.
In his separate opinion, Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen said the SC must “balance (its) power to punish for contempt with the constitutional right to free speech.”
The SC promulgated the decision penalizing Dizon on July 15, 2026.(CEBU NEWS)
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