Plagiarism a betrayal of public trust - House majority

MANILA, Philippines - Supreme Court Associate Justice Mariano del Castillo allegedly committed 32
counts of plagiarism in writing the decision on the case of World War II "comfort women", a lawyer
said Tuesday.

Four grandmothers who were sexually abused and made to become comfort women during the
Japanese occupation, together with their lawyers, attended the House of Representatives
committee of justice hearing this morning in the impeachment complaint against del Castillo.

The comfort women were the main complainants against del Castillo for alleged plagiarism as
ponente or main author of the decision in the Vinuya case, which denied the petition filed by a
group of comfort women seeking to compel the government to espouse their claims against the
Japanese government.

Atty. Romel Bagares, lawyer of the comfort women, presented documents that allegedly prove that
Justice del Castillo committed 32 counts of plagiarism and worse twisted the plagiarized work to
justify his decision.

Among the documentary evidence submitted by Bagares were letters by foreign authors and a
matrix or comparison of the plagiarized work.

Members of House majority said that as a justice of the Supreme Court, del Castillo's act of
plagiarism is a betrayal of public trust.

Members of the minority bloc including Reps. Danilo Suarez and Mitos Magsaysay, however, said
plagiarism is not a crime and that the decision of del Castillo was a collegial decision.

During questioning, one of the comfort women admitted that what they want is to get justice and
right a historical mistake but that they did not want del Castillo out of office. Isabelita Vinuya, 82,
however, retracted her statement and said that if they still won't get a favorable decision in their
case, she wants all the justices impeached.

'Plagiarism not a high crime'

Atty. Louie Oximer, lawyer of del Castillo, said the alleged plagiarized parts of the decision were not
used to justify the decision.

He said plagiarism is not a high crime, is not bribery or treason and is not culpable violation of the
Constitution therefore it cannot be an impeachable offense.

He also requested that his client skip the hearing because of a scheduled angiogram and heart
bypass operation. The motion was granted by the committee.

Rep. Niel Tupas, chairman of the House justice committee, set the next hearing on February 21,
2012. He said that he allowed the postponement for a week for the House members to study the
documentary evidence presented by both sides.

He said the voting for probable cause of the case will be conducted on that day and if majority of
the members vote for probable cause then the complaint will be transmitted to the plenary for
debates.

Tupas, however, said that in case the majority of the congressmen will vote for probable cause, he
wants the debate in the plenary be deferred until after the impeachment trial of Chief Justice
Renato Corona.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/nation/02/14/12/del-castillo-accused-32-counts-plagiarism-lawyer

MANILA, Philippines - The chief of staff of Sen Vicente "Tito" Sotto III finally admitted
that parts of his speech against the RH bill on Wednesday, August 15, were copied from
a blog by a foreign author who calls herself the “Healthy Home Economist.”

Lawyer Hector A. Villacorta, Sotto's chief of staff, wrote Sarah Pope a response in the
comments section of her blog in which he said: "I understand you felt slighted that your
blog was not attributed to you which became part of the speech of the senator."

"Let me say that after asking my staff, indeed your blog was used but only in quoting
also from the same book of Dr. Campbell-Mcbride."

Villacorta admitted the plagiarism hours after Sotto denied it. Pope then went online to
say that the senator indeed copied parts of her blog.

In a text message to Rappler, Villacorta admitted that the message on Pope's website
and Facebook page indeed came from him.

"[It was a message] saying that my staff sourced it there. Semi-apology if she wanted to
be credited. Our research for the past 5 months used the Internet also. It was a
technical medical paragraph difficult to paraphrase."

Villacorta admitted that the speech used information from Pope's blog. "It was a
quotation from a book and we said so."
Willing to give credit

In the message posted on the blogger's website and Facebook page, Sotto's chief of
staff offered to give credit to the blogger but also mentioned that both she and the
senator "are both indebted to the book's author."

Villacorta then stated: "If you wish that you also be credited with the contents of this
book, let this be your affirmation. I can do it and by this message, I am doing it. Hope
this satisfies you."

Sotto's chief of staff noted that the senator did not lift the words himself, as that was
their doing, and asked to not be crucified for this "oversight."

Take their side over the RH bill

Villacorta also requested the blogger to take their side in the discussions on the RH bill
and not "deflect the debate toward this issue of plagiarism. It is so out of sync in this
great debate."

"All the unborn wants very much the right to be born and need everybody's help,
including yours."

The senator is a staunch opponent of the bill which mandates government to actively
promote family planning, among others. The bill has reached the period of amendments
in the Senate, but critics led by the Catholic Church have vowed to stop it from
becoming into law.

https://www.rappler.com/nation/10668-sotto-s-staff-admits-plagiarism

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATE) – A graduate student of the country's premier state

university admitted to passing off as his own a photograph that recently won a contest
sponsored by the Chilean ambassador.

University of the Philippines graduate student Mark Joseph Solis made the confession
when Rappler contacted him by phone on Sunday, September 22.

"I'm deeply sorry. I'm in deep remorse. Right now, I already contacted the organizers
and I'm about to contact the owner to personally convey to him my deepest and
personal apology," Solis said.

Read: UP student apologizes for plagiarism

According to posts on the "Narinig ko sa UP" (Overheard at UP) Facebook page,
Solishad done this at least 5 times since 2011.

The most recent photo that Solis claimed to be his won the top prize in the Smiles for
the World photo contest conceptualized by Chilean Ambassador Roberto Mayorga.

It came under intense scrutiny on social networks on Sunday after the real owner of the
photograph, Gregory John Smith, revealed how "an impostor... abused my copyright."

Solis submitted a photo of a boy whom he said was named Nilo and was from
Zamboanga City. The caption stated that the boy helped his father farm seaweed.

During Chile's National Day on Wednesday, September 18, at the Cultural Center of the
Philippines, Solis was awarded $1,000 and roundtrip tickets to Chile and Brazil.

Smith, a social entrepreneur, said the photo belonged to the Children at Risk
Foundation, which he founded. The child in the photo was from Brazil, not Zamboanga
City, he said.

Smith posted a comment on a recent feature article on the ambassador claiming

ownership of the photo.
OUTRAGED. The owner of the controversial photo posted this comment on the article about the
Ambassador and his contest on Rappler

Taken from Flickr

Smith pointed to his Flickr account, which contained the same photo – taken in 2006 –
along with other photos of children in Brazil. The photo was titled, "Neptune, King of the
Sea."

Other Stories

Chilean Embassy revokes prize of photo plagiarist

The embassy is also 'considering taking legal action against' UP student Mark Joseph Solis, who won
their contest using somebody else's work

UP student apologizes for plagiarism

Mark Joseph Solis apologizes for stealing photos off the internet and claiming credit for them

Institutions hit Solis' plagiarism

Different institutions condemn the plagiary of photos by Mark Joseph Solis
THE ORIGINAL. The photo, originally called 'Neptune, King of the sea' posted in the Children at Risk
Flickr account managed by Smith. Screengrab from Flickr

UP students expressed shock and anger at the apparent plagiarism.

Solis is a political science alumnus of UP and is currently taking up his Masters in Public
Administration at the National College of Public Administration and Governance.

The website of the International Association of Political Science Students said Solis is a
legislative staff of Senator Pia Cayetano.

Cayetano tweeted Sunday, "To those asking, Mark Solis was a probationary staff for
three months. He has not been connected with our office since June."

Not the first time

It wasn't the first time Solis joined and won a contest using photos taken by other
people.

Solis sent Smith's photo to the United Nations International Year of Water
Cooperationcontest. The caption stated this time that the child was from India,
according to posts on the Narinig ko sa UP page.

Another photo he entered into the same contest was also from the Children At Risk
Foundation's Flickr album.
Screengrab from ICIMOD website (http://www.icimod.org/photocontest/2013/mark-joseph-tajo-
solis/20130520_162732.jpg.php)

In 2011, he also entered and won the first Papworth Trust's photo competition. The
owner of the photo is a Flickr user who took the photo in 2008.

Solis also entered 3 photos to a sustainable development photo contest hosted by a

European Union company called VinylPlus. All 3 photos were also stolen from Flickr
accounts.

The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, which also held a photo
contest in 2011, received a false entry from Solis as well. The original photo, also found
on Flickr, even had a watermark on it.

Disappointed
Ambassador Mayorga expressed his deep sadness by the turn of events.

Mayorga told Rappler he only wished to show appreciation on the Calidad Humana of
the Filipinos. He added that he hopes this does not tarnish the image of all Filipinos.

"The majority [of Filipinos] have plenty of Calidad Humana," Mayorga told Rappler,
"Unfortunately, these kind of exceptions are the risk you have in your nice country. This
shows it is necessary to take care of your good people, preserving among them the
positive elements of their personality."

READ: 'Calidad Humana' and exporting the Filipino smile

Mayorga said that they will conduct an investigation into the matter. But he warned that
Solis' conduct may forfeit his award.

Solis said he will meet with the contest organizers on Monday. – Rappler.com

Photographer image via Shutterstock