SC denies Bar exams leakage rumors

MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday dismissed rumors circulating online that the cancellation of this year's Bar exams is being considered or that some subjects must be taken again due to a leakage.

In a press conference, SC Public Information Office chief Theodore Te said allegations posted on social media platforms saying that questions for the Commercial Law or Mercantile Law and Criminal Law exams were leaked has reached the attention of the chairperson of the 2016 Bar Examination, Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco Jr.

Velasco then denied all the allegations and assured Bar candidates that the examination would not be canceled nor re-administered.

“The office of the Bar chairperson has investigated the matter and has come to the conclusion that the questions remained confidential before the scheduled exams. The findings show that there is no truth to any of these unsubstantiated social media rumors,” Velasco said.

“Similarly false are reports that the Supreme Court en banc, with the deans of the different law schools, is considering the cancellation of this year's Bar Examinations or the re-administration of the affected subjects. There is no iota of truth to these statements,” he added.

A Facebook post stated that the SC en banc conducted a meeting after discovering a leakage since the start of the bar exams involving at least one law school purportedly a university which name starts with the letter A. The netizen said the SC is probing the supposed finding and is mulling on canceling the whole exam or the retaking of affected subjects.

Hala, leakage daw sa Bar? pic.twitter.com/06b8iCh7mr

— Danielle (@DANinjaaaa) November 23, 2016

The post has since been deleted.

Velasco said: “[These] unfounded reports that are being irresponsibly circulated in social media only undermine the efforts of the Bar Chair to safeguard the confidentiality and integrity of the Bar Exams.”

He called on the public not to add more stress and anxiety to the examinees.

“The chairperson also asks the support of the members of the Bar, the academe, and the examinees to be vigilant of such reports and instead work for the success of the exams,” Velasco added.

The four-Sunday 115^th bar examination will be concluded on Sunday. It is being held at the University of Santo Tomas.

The bar exam covers questions on political and public international law, labor law and social legislation, civil law, taxation law, mercantile law and criminal law.