“The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.”- Dick the Butcher, from Henry VI by William Shakespeare.

The past week saw young lawyers (around my age, actually) in precarious and, worse, recorded situations, posted and shared on social media. The online community made a “killing” that would have made Shakespeare proud.

A lawyer couple found themselves in a tussle with the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) for having left their vehicle parked for more than five minutes at a no-parking zone.

The MMDA made frivolous attempts to tow the vehicle, but the lawyer couple did not budge. A shouting match erupted, filled with expletives, where the lawyers cited a plethora of legal and emotional reasons which included the pregnant lady lawyer’s alleged bleeding for being in such a tense-filled scene.

Notably, the license of the lady lawyer was surrendered only when the husband arrived at the scene.

The couple ended up getting away with it, but thanks to technology, the entire scandal was uploaded shortly on Facebook and the MMDA got the last laugh.

Soon, the complete names, work experience and education of the lawyer couple were shared on social media. Pressured to do so, the lawyer couple appeared on a news channel where they read a prepared statement, their faces blurred as if they were innocent minors. The MMDA will be pursuing raps against them. We can expect a revoked driver’s license or two.

Three junior associates of the Desierto and Desierto Law Office found themselves going, perhaps, too all-in for a client that is now due to pay a huge premium on legal fees.

The Makati City Police was in the process of rounding up suspects in Time Bar, located along Makati Avenue, in what was said to be a drug bust.

The lawyers arrived at the scene, armed with their well-researched legal arguments, but when questioned by the authorities on who they were representing, the lawyers refused to reveal their client.

This irked the authorities and they were arrested for obstruction of justice.

The junior associates ended up in a police precinct and were reportedly detained for more than 24 hours.

Their boss in the law firm, Atty. Diane Desierto, a known professor of law, made several posts on her Facebook account, citing violations of not just Philippine law, but also of international law. Soon, everyone jumped in: The Integrated Bar of the Philippines said it will file a Petition for Habeas Corpus (but is no longer needed since they were released already). The Commission on Human Rights said it will investigate. Sen. Richard Gordon mentioned a violation of the rule on arbitrary detention.

These are just a few of lawyer-shaming incidents that surface every once in awhile. There are other more recent ones: the hazing incident in a law school fraternity; the rumble between law school fraternities; the high-ranking public official who had an illicit extra-marital affair; the lawyer-topnotcher who skipped required Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) class by asking her secretary to sit in and pose as her.

Are these acts of lawyer-shaming justified? This writer, a lawyer, believes so. There are over 60,000 active lawyers in the Philippines, not all of them practising but lawyers nonetheless.

A rough estimate is every year, the Bar admits around 1,500 new lawyers out of around 6,000 who take the Bar exams, for an average 20+ percent passing rate, depending on the kindness of the Bar Chairman (case in point, Justice Presbiterio Velasco’s 2016 Bar Exams where 59 percent passed, I think, will never happen again!).

Law schools have been cropping up left and right, without any shortage of enrollees. It is still a growing industry in the Philippines despite talks in other countries that the demand for lawyers is already dwindling.

Given the number of new lawyers entering the legal industry every year, enforcement of high ethical standards and professional rules on conduct must be done more stringently. Otherwise, this profession would go to the dogs, wasting a good four years of post-graduate education in an expensive law school.

The Supreme Court (SC) in Del Mundo v. Capistrano, A.C. 6903, 16 April 2012, held that “the practice of law is a privilege given to lawyers who meet the high standards of legal proficiency and morality, including honesty, integrity and fair dealing. They must perform their four-fold duty to society, the legal profession, the courts and their clients, in accordance with the values and norms of the legal profession as embodied in the Code of Professional Responsibility. Falling short of this standard, the Court will not hesitate to discipline an erring lawyer by imposing an appropriate penalty based on the exercise of sound judicial discretion in consideration of the surrounding facts.”

Further, in Embido v. Pe, A.C. 6732, 22 October 2013, the SC reminded lawyers that “they should do nothing that may in any way or degree lessen the confidence of the public in their professional fidelity and integrity. The Court will not hesitate to wield its heavy hand of discipline on those among them who wittingly and willingly fail to meet the enduring demands of their Attorney’s Oath xxx…”

In one of the more celebrated cases, the SC, in Guevara v. Eala, A.C. 7136, 1 August 2007, disbarred a lawyer for engaging in a scandalous and illicit affair, citing Rule 1.01 of Canon 1 of the Code of Professional Responsibility which proscribes a lawyer from engaging in “unlawful, dishonest, immoral or deceitful conduct,” and Rule 7.03 of Canon 7 of the same Code which proscribes a lawyer from engaging in any “conduct that adversely reflects on his fitness to practice law.”

Indeed, lawyering is one of the most celebrated professions in the Philippines. But to what reason? At one point, the top five public officials in the country were all lawyers, i.e., the President, Vice President, Senate President, Speaker of the House and, of course, the Chief Justice. Lawyers are placed on a pedestal in a number of situations where they are branded as “Atorni” by the public, as if they know anything and everything.

On a side note, one of the high-ranking lawyers in government, Secretary Harry Roque, commented on the Time Bar incident, and sided with the authorities, stating that the junior associates needed a “refresher course” in the law. He stated that they’re still too young, “overzealous” and for the policemen to “show extreme patience,” as “they still have to learn the ropes.” Didn’t I mention that I was around their age? So please be patient with me, too.