Sotto's speech (left) appears to be an exact, transliterated version of Kennedy's 1966 speech (right).
Click to enlarge, Image retrieved from GMA News Online
Two years ago, an associate justice of the Philippine Supreme Court, Mariano del Castillo, was accused of plagiarism. When he penned the ruling on "Vinuya, et al. vs. Executive Secretary" in April 2010, there were portions in the document that was identical to statements found in “A Fiduciary of Theory of Jus Cogens" by Evan Criddle and Evan Fox-Decent, "Breaking the Silence on Rape as an International Crime" by Mark Ellis, and "Enforcing Erga Omnes Obligations in International Law" by Christian Tams. (Link to source: SC clears Justice Mariano del Castillo in Plagiarism Mess - GMA News Online)
Six months later, the Supreme Court en banc decides that the associate justice had not committed anything wrong and that the attribution was merely "accidentally deleted."
The result? People from different sectors in the Philippines denounced and ultimately condemned the justice, as well as the SC decision on the matter, stating that plagiarism should not be tolerated in the country. Some even attested that the plagiarism could be a grounds for impeachment. One of those sectors who publicly denounced Mariano del Castillo's act was the Philippine Senate.
At that time, Sotto was already a senator.
Fast-forward two years, and the blame is shifted to the one who cried foul about the same act. In a privilege speech given by Sotto on his contradiction of the RH bill, now being heard in the plenary, Sotto gave a speech that caught a lot of attention. Apparently, his speech was an exact transliteration of Robert Kennedy's Day of Affirmation address in 1966. (See photo above or click here for a larger image -- opens in a new tab / window -- for comparison; for my non-Filipino readers, I can attest now, Sotto's speech quote on the left of the image is roughly 99% a transliteration of Kennedy's 1966 address. You can check it on Google translate if you want, just to get a rough comparison) (Link to source: Sotto Dismisses New Plagiarism Charges - Manila Bulletin)
Obviously, the senator had to deny it, which he did, and even quips, "Marunong pala managalog si Kennedy ah. (What, Kennedy knew how to speak Tagalog?)"
Seriously, even a forum spammer would say, "Trolling!!"
The senator went on to say that this "cyberbullying" of him should stop and that these charges merely stand to distract the public from the real issue at hand, which is the RH (Reproductive Health) bill debate -- A blog post on the RH bill may come in the near future.
Moreover, his colleagues don't seem to fret over it. Senators Bongbong Marcos and Juan Ponce Enrile stated on live television that this issue should no longer be belabored with.
Interesting view... Never knew the senate could pull a passive-aggressive stunt all of a sudden.
Let's get this straight: So plagiarism is a non-issue now here in the Philippines? Seriously? Apparently, these politicians don't just steal money from the government, they can steal speeches and other intellectual properties, too? Well-rounded people, these guys.
I don't care if its a debate on the RH bill, the national budget, the investigation on corruption or what else you may think of. Stealing is stealing, period. You can change the venue, you can change the topic, you can change the tone, but it doesn't change the fact that what you've done is thievery, plain and simple. Don't go shouting, "let's focus on the real issue," because you don't know which issue is important. Hell, you publicly steal a well-known speech and you say it isn't an issue? If we send hundreds of people every day to jail for stealing money, or possessions, then why should those caught stealing ideas not get the same treatment? How's that for an issue.
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