The Supreme Court has issued protocols to be observed during the conduct of the November 2022 Bar examinations in selected areas nationwide. The guidelines are intended to minimize the spread of the Covid-19 virus among examiners and examinees.
The SC issued the guidelines through Bar Bulletin 8-2022 penned by the office of Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin s. Caguioa, chair of the 2022 Bar Examinations.
Before examinations, there would be self-quarantining among examinees starting on 26 October 2022, or at least two weeks before the Bar, and until the last day thereof. Examinees were advised to limit non-essential movement.
They were also advised to avoid staying in hotels and dormitories where there may be higher risks of exposure to Covid, unless the examinee lives in an area outside the city or municipality where the local testing center is located.
“Bar operations” or gathering of individuals as a form of support to the examinees are similarly prohibited. For the health and safety of all persons inside the LTCs, examinees may be barred from taking the examinations if it is later known that “Bar operations” activities were conducted by their law school or organizations in the hotel where they are staying.
Due to the strict protocols implemented by both the Office of the Bar chair and the LTCs, examinees and personnel will be required to sign a waiver releasing the Supreme Court and the LTC from any liability if they contract Covid-19 during any of the days of the Bar examinations.
The waiver shall be sent to each examinee’s email address by the venue examinee supervisors of the examinee’s assigned LTC, and submitted by the examinee to the Head Proctor on the first day of the Bar Examinations.
For every examination day, all examinees must present the applicable documents upon entry to their assigned LTC.
For fully vaccinated examinees, they shall be required to present their Covid-19 vaccination cards, subject to Item 3.3.
Valid vaccination cards may either be the original vaccination cards issued by their local government units, digital vaccination cards or certificates, vaccination passports, or the Bureau of Quarantine-issued International Certificate of Vaccination.
Proof of vaccination in digital form MUST be printed out for presentation in the security check area.
For unvaccinated examinees, they shall be required to present either a negative RT-PCR test result or a negative antigen test result.
The test must be conducted by any Department of Health-accredited testing facility, the cost of which will be shouldered by the examinees. The list of DoH-accredited testing facilities can be found at: https://doh.gov.ph/licensed-covid-19-testing-laboratories.