A law graduate hugs his mother before entering the Bar Examination testing center at the University of Santo Tomas in España, Manila on Sunday, September 17, 2023, for the first day of the most rigid examination in the country. ABS-CBN News
MANILA —The chair of this year's Bar exams on Saturday said they will not be checked through artificial intelligence (AI), and that the court would hold people spreading such rumors accountable.
Supreme Court Associate Justice Ramon Paul Hernando, 2023 Bar chairman, said the Bar Examinations will be checked by 4 examiners per subject "all of whom are established experts in their respective fields."
Examiners were "by no means created or powered by artificial intelligence," despite claims from a certain individual and a Facebook group, Hernando said.
"The Office of the 2023 Bar Chair condemns these social media publications as false, baseless, irresponsible, defamatory, contumacious, detestable, and formulated with apparent intent to erode the integrity of the digitalized Bar Examinations," the SC associate justice said.
"I reiterate what has been stated in Bar Bulletin No. 1, Series of 2023: all stakeholders are exhorted to rely exclusively on the Court's official communication channels," he added.
Based on the SC's initial probe, they already know the identity of the Facebook accounts involved in spreading the false information.
"Proper measures" will be meted against the administrators, Hernando said, noting that they have tapped the National Bureau of Investigation "in the conduct of criminal investigation of the nefarious activities and questionable circumstances surrounding this personality."
A total of 10,791 law students participated in the three-day Bar Examinations, which were held on Sept. 17 and Sept. 20 in 14 testing centers nationwide.
The last day of the examinations is scheduled tomorrow, Sept. 24.
Hernando has said he wants a new batch of full-fledged lawyers before the year ends.