MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday, January 14, announced that the 2020/2021 Bar Examinations will be moved again to February. 

The Bar examinations were now rescheduled to February 4 (Friday) and 6 (Sunday) as unanimously decided by the SC En Banc. 

In the SC’s latest bar bulletin, 2020/2021 Bar Exams chairperson Associate Justice Marvic Leonen said over 16% of the Bar examinees who responded to the the query of the Office of the Bar Chairperson were affected by COVID-19. 

“As of today, 16.8% of the 8,546 Bar examinees who have responded to an email of the Office of the Bar Chairperson are any of the three: positive for COVID-19; living with someone positive for COVID-19; or under quarantine due to direct contact,” Leonen said. 

“They are at risk of not being able to take the Bar examinations if the original schedule of January 23 to 25, 2022 were to push through,” the associate justice added. 

Leonen added that 16 out of their 31 teams would be “critically understaffed” if the schedule would be followed, given the infection rate and quarantine situation among their Bar personnel. 

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Meanwhile, all examinees will also be advised to undergo quarantine by January 20, according to Leonen. All existing instructions in previous Bar bulletins not affected by the latest decision also remain effective. 

On January 4, the highest court announced that there will only be two testing dates, instead of four. Prior to that, the SC moved the 2020/2021 November Bar exams to January 16, 23, 30, and February 6, 2022. – Rappler.com