Senator Sotto: The Plagiarizing Senator

Vicente Sotto III

Wow! This guy has balls of steel and a mind of a chimpanzee (Sorry to all chimpanzees reading this).

I generally steer clear of politics because it doesn’t really interest me. As a result, I don’t know too much about it, but the Sotto incident has interested me. It’s always interesting when one person can spark outrage to a lot of people (TWICE!). When the news came out last night that Sotto plagiarized a speech of Robert F. Kennedy, I started reading up on the Plagiarizing Senator. His reactions to the accusations? Priceless.

“Ano? Marunong nang mag-Tagalog si Kennedy?” 

“Ako na yata ang kauna-unahang senador ng Pilipinas na naging biktima ng cyber-bullying,”

“Why should I quote a blogger?”

We don’t need telenovelas in the Philippines when reality is even better. Here are a few links to insightful and funny reads about the Plagiarism of Sotto.

Educate yourself.

 

 

Did Sen. Sotto Copy from 5 Bloggers?

Here you can find an in depth and detailed account of the plagiarism in Sotto’s speech against the RH Bill. This is the first speech that got the blogosphere’s attention. It notes that Sotto actually copied from 5 bloggers. It’s a good detailed read if you want to get to the specifics.

On Plagiarism the Pill and Presumptuousness

Here’s a link to Sarah Pope’s response to Senator Sotto’s plagiarism. To her credit, she takes the whole incident in stride, but the kicker is when Atty. Hector A. Villacorta, the Chief of Staff from the Office of Senator Sotto “apologized” to Sarah. If I could emphasize “apologize” more, I would. You can read the “apology” here. Take note the next first comment after the “apology” is *facepalm*.

The Other Sins of Senator Vicente Sotto III

Here’s a great piece from Rappler, pointing out the other misgivings of our beloved Senator. My favourite part is the following:

“As if this were not enough, he appealed to her to join them in their fight for the unborn, turning the apology both into an accusation and a political diatribe. Part of the bad taste of this was that Mr. Villacorta implied that he and Sotto could speak for the unborn, ‘all the unborn wants very much the right to be born and they need everybody’s help.’ That the apology was written in bad English did not help. “

Inquirer Opinion Copycats

Another commentary about the whole situation.

“To begin with, it’s astonishing that Sotto’s office, which at one point headed the Senate committee on intellectual property rights, should be clueless about the differences between borrowing and infringing, between retelling and plagiarizing.”

When we were in school, plagiarism was grounds for expulsion. Did that change? When did we say that it was OK to do that?This whole incident has even inspired a Sotto Resign Facebook page.

What’s your take on it? Let us know below.