Gearing up for the pandemic Bar exams of 2021

What this year's Bar examinations chairman, Associate Justice Mario Victor Leonen, calls the best Bar exams ever will be remembered as the first of many things. It’s the first Bar exams to be held in multiple sites, namely Metro Manila, Cebu, and many more sites, expectedly Baguio City for the north, Naga City for Bicol, Cagayan de Oro or Davao for Mindanao, and others which the chairman and his committee may find suitable in the spirit of social distancing, and other health protocols. I am actively involved in the preparation as a Law professor, author of Law book and Bar reviewers, Bar review lecturer, and Bar coach in three universities.

It will also be the first Bar Exams which will be “digitized, localized and proctored modality.” Again, it is expected to be the first Bar exams with more than 10,000 Bar examinees, considering that about 8,000 were scheduled to take the 2020 Bar and who had to wait because the COVID-19 pandemic led to the postponement of the examinations. Added to that number would be another 8,000 who are graduating this year, and so, about 16,000 will apply for admission to take this very grueling and difficult test consisting of eight Bar subjects distributed in four Sundays: November 7, 14, 21 and 28. The first Sunday, two subjects will be tackled, Political Law in the morning and Labor Law and Social Legislation in the afternoon. On November 14, Civil Law and the dreaded Taxation Laws. On November 21, it will be Mercantile or Commercial laws and Criminal law. For the last Sunday, the heaviest subject, Remedial Law and Legal Ethics and Practical Exercises.

The Supreme Court clarified that Bar examinees are still required to report to their designated examination centers with their own laptop and shall connect to wifi on legitimate Mac or Windows operating systems. Only genuine Windows and Mac versions are allowed. Bar examinees are instructed to remove all files related to the subjects. The Supreme Court will use its own software. They said software will prevent users from exiting the application or accessing other tabs and applications during the examinations. They are also specifically instructed to make sure their operating systems have a minimum of 4 gigabytes of available space. Proctors will be very strict and surveillance cameras will be installed in all testing rooms and environs.

As a Law professor for the last 30 years, I have adjusted painlessly to the new digital systems of conducting my classes and administering examinations via digital platforms since last year. As a septuagenarian, I think I’m doing very well. During the pandemic, I saved a lot of time because I didn’t have to travel across horrendous traffic quagmires and I conduct my classes via Zoom and other platforms from my residence. I could even lecture as a visiting professor in ASEAN-accredited universities on comparative labor laws to Law students and lawyers abroad. This pandemic is a blessing in disguise to me as it opens a lot of windows of opportunities to bigger and more audiences. And so, I am able to optimize my usefulness in helping prepare students for this landmark Bar examination in 2021.

I help students improve their grammar, logic and even syntax. I help them spot issues and respond effectively to the questions. In my subject of specialization, I guide them on the laws governing recruitment and deployment of OFWs, the law on wages, compensation and benefits, as well as the statutes governing unions. I have mastered the laws on security of tenure and termination of employment. I help them recall the protocols and procedures in voluntary and compulsory arbitration, appeals and petitions for certiorari and for review under Rules 43, 45, and 65, and their respective grounds and periods.

It is becoming very difficult to become a lawyer. After studying for eight long years after high school, after one year of Bar review, each of them has to undergo the grueling four Sundays, answering thousands of difficult questions and solving many legal problems. This has even been made more complicated by the demands of the pandemic and the corresponding health and safety protocols imposed by the government. But this is the only way and no one can become a member of the Philippine Bar without submitting himself or herself to this baptism of fire. I can only help them and pray for the best.