Three US bloggers set to file plagiarism complaint vs Sen. Sotto
Shaira F. Panela, GMA News November 7, 2012 4:07pm
Three US-based bloggers are planning to file a unified complaint against Senator Vicente "Tito" Sotto III for allegedly plagiarizing their work in his speeches.
"At no time did Senator Sotto provide citation information or indicate in any way that this material was written by others," reads their collective complaint, which was signed and dated October 1, 2012.
One of the signatories, blogger Janice Formichella, told GMA News Online via email that their complaint will be filed before the Philippine Senate Ethics Committee, headed by Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, but gave no date for when they plan to file it.
"Neither Senator Sotto nor anyone associated with him requested permission to use our articles and blog entries, or contacted us or anyone associated with our publications," the complaint stated. "We find this misuse of our work to be deceptive, unethical, illegal and unacceptable."
A facsimile of the signed document was sent to GMA News Online by Canada-based writer and novelist Miguel Syjuco, who has been in contact with all the complainants.
In his email to GMA News Online, Syjuco said that bloggers Sarah Couture Pope of Healthy Home Economist; Janice Formichella of Feminists for Choice; and Peter Engelman of New York University's Margaret Sanger Papers Project signed the complaint in protest of Sen. Sotto's "infringement of their intellectual property rights and plagiarism of their copyrighted material as posted on their respective blogs."
Meanwhile, in a text message, Sen. Sotto said he had yet to be informed of the complaint.
"It's a welcome development because that will give me a chance to prove there was no such thing (pertaining to the plagiarism accusations)," the senator said.
Sotto 'twisted' bloggers' words?
Earlier, Pope said that Sotto lifted and "twisted" her description of the ill effects of birth control pills to fit his stand against the Reproductive Health Bill.
"I am sorry my blog was used and twisted against (Filipinas). You deserve the choice to use The Pill if you want or need to based on your particular circumstances. While I want you to know that this choice has health consequences, I, in no way would ever condone taking this choice away from you!" she was quoted as saying.
Likewise, Formichella told GMA News Online in an email interview that a reader left a comment on the Feminists for Choice blog telling her of the situation.
"I am frustrated that my blog post, which meant to promote a woman's right to make choices about her reproductive health, is being used in any manner that promotes an anti-choice agenda. I believe strongly in the women's health bill in question and would never want my research or work to be used to argue against the legislation," she said, adding that it was her first time to ever have her work plagiarized.
Formichella also said, "I would like him to acknowledge this point. I would also like an apology for the manner in which he has previously defamed me to the press."
Another case of 'Sottoism'?
In 2000, Engelman wrote an article for the Margaret Sangers Paper Project titled, "Gandhi and Sanger Debate Love, Lust and Birth Control".
He posted a transcript of a conversation between Mahatman Gandhi and Margaret Sangers on population, birth control, and the fate of Indian women, recorded on Dec. 3, 1935.
Below is a look at Engelman's blog entry vis-a-vis Sen. Sotto's speech, with similarly-worded portions underlined in both excerpts to facilitate comparison:
Sotto’s August 16 Senate speech
"While Sanger claimed she merely wanted to pay her respects and give a personal tribute to Gandhi, she coveted nothing less than his endorsement of the widespread use of artificial birth control methods. Gandhi firmly stood by his belief that the spiritual bonds of marriage are strengthened by ***ual abstinence. He thus completely rejected Sanger’s plea for contraception as a tool to control population growth, fearing it would lead to an increase in non-procreative ***, which he viewed as immoral lust."
Peter Engelman’s original
"While Sanger claimed she mainly wanted to pay her respects and give a personal tribute to Gandhi, she coveted nothing less than his endorsement of birth control. Gandhi promoted the spiritual bonds of marriage, which, he argued, were strengthened by continence. He reluctantly agreed to consider sanctioning the safe period or rhythm method, but rejected Sanger’s plea for contraception to control population growth, fearing it would lead to an increase in non-procreative ***, which he viewed as immoral lust."
More accounts of plagiarism
Syjuco also provided a list of other personalities supposedly plagiarized by Sen. Sotto in his Aug. 13 and 15 speeches against the Reproductive Health Bill:
•Robert F. Kennedy / Richard Goodwin (speechwriter), from RFK's Day of Affirmation Speech (See our story here)
•Marlon C. Ramirez of Writing for Talking Sense
•International Organizations Research Group/Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute in their paper, “Six More Problems With Women Deliver”
• “Truth About Contraceptives” blog
— With Kimberly Jane Tan / TJD, GMA News