Bar exam leak: 5,000 bets to retake test

Over 5,000 Bar examinees will have to retake a test on mercantile law after the Supreme Court discovered that the exam had been leaked.

Justice Jose Vitug, chairman of this year’s Bar examinations, said the mercantile law examination given last Sunday should be nullified to "preserve the integrity and protect the sanctity" of the Bar results.

He learned about the leak that Sunday night from a brother, Vitug said.

The high tribunal set the new exam date on Oct. 4 at 8 p.m. at De La Salle University in Manila, where the examinations are being held since Sept. 7.

The court may take "further action" if necessary, it said in an en banc resolution.

Vitug said an initial investigation showed that the leak might have originated from the office of the examiner, whom Vitug refused to identify.

Some examinees had copies of the entire test questionnaire, and parts of the exam have been distributed in law schools and review centers, Vitug said.

Other sources said some examinees managed to get hold of 27 of the 29 test questions from a fraternity.

Vitug said 70 to 75 percent of the questions prepared by the examiner were used in the mercantile law examinations. The leak was so huge that the entire exam had to be junked, he said.

Vitug suspects that the examiner’s computer must have been hacked and that the examiner never realized that his files could be copied.

"Apparently that is how it might have happened and he was very apologetic about it," Vitug told a press conference.

He said he consulted the Law Deans Association of the Philippines before ordering a new exam.

The Supreme Court is forming a panel to investigate, Vitug said. Vitug refused to name any suspects as well as the punishment that might be imposed on those responsible.

Because of the scandal, the examiner has offered to inhibit himself from participating in conducting the new exam and someone else will be tapped to form the new test questions, Vitug said.

Andres Bautista, dean of Far Eastern University’s College of Law and president of the deans association, said the incident was "unfortunate" and expressed support for the Supreme Court decision.

"Lawyers nowadays are much maligned and we don’t want to add to that. And really we feel that this was something that is really nobody’s direct fault," Bautista told the same press conference.

Mariano Magsalin, dean of the Arellano Law Foundation and secretary general of the deans association, said he reported the leak to the Supreme Court after discovering that some students in his school got the questionnaire.

A total of 5,455 examinees were taking the bar exams.

The mercantile law forms 15 percent of the Bar examinations. To pass the Bar, an examinee has to obtain a general grade of 75 percent without getting a score below 50 percent in any subject.

In 1979, a re-examination was ordered after a similar exam leakage involving two subjects — labor and social legislation and taxation — was discovered.