Republic of the Philippines
Supreme Court Manila
BAR BULLETIN NO. 35, S. 2022 REVISING THE RULES ON THE USE OF LAPTOPS DURING THE 2020/21 BAR EXAMINATIONS PROPER Previously, Bar Bulletin No. 18, s. 2021 had advised examinees to organize and offload their law-related files into external devices before taking the Bar Examinations. Bar Bulletin No. 30, s. 2021 had also prohibited examinees from using their laptops other than to use Examplify during the test proper. Examinees are now allowed to keep reviewers in their laptops, which should always be saved in their local folders and not downloadable from their clouds. Once done with the security and health check, examinees may open their laptops to access their files for any last-minute studying. Examinees may also review their own files during lunch breaks. For local testing centers with assigned lunch areas, examinees may bring their laptops there; for those that allow eating inside the testing rooms, examinees may use their laptops inside to review. Each examinee is responsible for the safekeeping of their laptops. The Supreme Court shall not be liable should they spill anything on their laptops or do any damage that might render the laptops unusable for the succeeding exams. Examinees shall also not be allowed to avail of the back-up computers should such a situation arise. In any event, examinees must close all reviewers and other law-related files 30 minutes before the first bell (7:30 a.m.; 1:30 p.m.) rings. The policy against talking to other examinees still stands. Examinees are prohibited from sharing their computer screens or computer files. During the entire examinations and within the premises of the Bar Examinations, no examinee should be less than 2 meters from any other human being. Silence and physical distancing will be strictly enforced.