SC cites bar review coach for contempt, orders removal from 2016 passers - Cebu Daily News
MANILA – The Supreme Court (SC) has found a Bar review coach guilty of indirect contempt for posting false information on Facebook about the 2023 Bar examinations, including claims that artificial intelligence (AI) would be used to check the exams.
In a per curiam decision, the SC en banc held Edgar Dizon, administrator of the Facebook group Bar Law for Dummies, liable for indirect contempt.
The court fined him PHP30,000 and ordered the removal of his name from the list of 2016 Bar passers.
On Sept. 21, 2023, a post from the Facebook group and the account “Tsidkenu Dizon” claimed that the 2023 Bar Examinations would “be sorted, check, and corrected by means of artificial intelligence.”
It also stated: “ALWAYS START WITH YES OR NO. Yan ang unang hahanapin ng AI Checking to sort out the correct answers (That is the first thing the AI checking system will look for to sort out the correct answers).”
As a result, the Office of the 2023 Bar Chair (BCO), headed by Associate Justice Ramon Paul Hernando, investigated the source of the post and assessed its impact on the examinations.
The BCO also issued an advisory clarifying that four human examiners would check the examinations for each subject, all of whom are experts in their fields.
But instead of removing the post, Dizon threatened to sue the SC and demanded a public apology “within 24 hours” during a media interview.
He also sent several emails to the SC’s Judiciary Public Assistance Section, claiming that the advisory had a chilling effect on him.
He denied spreading misinformation and asked the court to issue a statement correcting the advisory.
After the SC directed him to explain why he should not be cited for indirect contempt for interfering with the conduct of the 2023 Bar Examinations, Dizon admitted owning the Facebook account but denied claiming that AI would check the examinations, arguing that he used the words “TO HELP” in his post.
The SC was not convinced and held him liable under Rule 71, Section 3 of the Rules of Court, which punishes unlawful interference with court processes outside a courtroom, conduct that degrades the courts or undermines public confidence in the administration of justice, and unauthorized practice of law, as indirect contempt.
The SC held that Dizon’s post unlawfully interfered with the conduct of the 2023 Bar Examinations and undermined the integrity of both the exams and the SC, which exercises supervision over the legal profession. It caused confusion and alarm, forcing Bar officials to divert their limited time and resources to tracing the source of the post, coordinating with government agencies, issuing clarifications, and responding to numerous inquiries.
The SC further noted Dizon’s lack of remorse. Instead of acknowledging the harm caused by his post, he demanded an apology from the court, threatened legal action, refused to take down the post and sought a statement retracting the advisory.
The court likewise warned Dizon from engaging in the unauthorized practice of law when he conducted Bar review coaching sessions and authored several Bar review materials used in the Bar Law for Dummies training program.
Dizon acknowledged that while he had passed the 2016 Bar Examinations, he had not taken the lawyer’s oath, which is one of the requirements to practice law, because of pending criminal cases.
In his separate concurring opinion, Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen agreed that Dizon must be punished for undermining the integrity of the Bar Examinations.
He emphasized the need to balance the court’s power to punish for contempt with the constitutional right to free speech, including legitimate criticism of the courts. (PR)
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