It’s OK to Kill All the Lawyers, But Not the ‘Sin-nators’?

By Alex P. Vidal 

“Since we all know that death is inevitable, I don’t really see the difference between dying now and dying a decade later. So if I’m threatened with assassination, I welcome it!” —Miriam Defensor-Santiago

NOT all lawyers are despicable, but almost majority of the senators (at least in the Philippines) we always referred to as “sin-nators” are not only tainted by chicanery but are also shady and corrupt.

And it’s okay to threaten to “kill all the lawyers,” according to a character called Dick the Butcher in Act IV, Scene II of William Shakespeare’s Henry VI, Part II, which was written between 1596 to 1599, and not the sin-nators?

Killing is murder and is a crime per se; it shouldn’t be promoted or dangled as a form of punishment in any civilized country.

If we are going to hold the swaggering Citizen Digong accountable for his threat to kill the 15 senators (mostly allied with President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.), which was only a “joke” according to his defenders, then why the lawyers in the 16^th century weren’t up in arms against the Bard of Avon (this was how Shakespeare was known) for “threatening” to exterminate all those involved in the legal profession?

The answer is simple: Shakespeare’s version of “let’s kill” was not considered a crime because it’s a fictional line spoken by a villainous character in a play.

And it was meant to represent the chaotic and destructive nature of a rebellion, not a literal call to violence against lawyers; it’s often interpreted as a commentary on the importance of law and order by showing what would happen without it, essentially praising the role of lawyers in society.

-o0o-

Citizen Digong’s version was complicated, controversial and downright cryptic, especially that he is a notorious major player in the brutal summary execution of thousands of Filipinos during the dark years of the campaign against illegal drugs.

It can be misinterpreted by his legions of myopic-minded die-hards who might be persuaded to translate the “joke” into something we dread to imagine happening given his status as a political demigod.

To begin with, the quote, “The first thing we do is, let’s kill all the lawyers”, was real and not a myth; it wasn’t a misquoted aphorism.

Approximately 400 years after Shakespeare’s death, this pithy phrase, according to Olivia Rutigliano, has become one of his most famous witticisms, appropriated often to disparage the legal profession, or at least acknowledge the ubiquitous caricature of the crooked, overpriced, counselor.

Rutigliano wrote in LITHUB that “Let’s kill all the lawyers” is a complicated phrase that (somehow always) refers to the importance of maintaining a fair rule of law that protects the people.

Whether lawyers symbolize evil or good, she added, is almost irrelevant; the most important thing about the quote is the upholding of a fair and just law system, itself.

-o0o-

The oligarchs who allegedly mediated the political feud between Iloilo City Mayor Geronimo “Jerry” Trenas and Iloilo City lone district Rep. Julienne “Jamjam” Baronda last year may have succeeded in preserving the political status quo (whatever that means in their own terms) in Iloilo City when both camps averted a head-on collision course in the mayoral and congressional contests,  but not the more preferred and glorious unity.

As of this writing, sympathizers from both camps continued to hurl vicious insults and scurrilous accusations against each other both in the mainstream and social media.

And it appears there is no sign the hostilities will slow down especially now that the official campaign period for the May 12, 2025 elections has unfurled. It is even worsening.

The fact that both Baronda and Raisa Trenas, the city mayor’s daughter who is running for city mayor, don’t have clear and present threats of losing and are actually a cinch away from being reelected and elected respectively, makes the cold war and antagonism between two parties so riveting and outrageous.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two daily newspapers in Iloilo.—Ed)