VIC SOTTO: WE ARE ALL BEHIND TITO / TITO IMMUNE
FROM PLAGIARISM RAPS
[PHOTO
-Vic Sotto shrugged off rumors that he will seek a political post in
2013, but said, in jest, that he might run for senator to support his brother
Tito in his causes.]
MANILA, AUGUST 18, 2012 (ABS-CBN) Tito takes responsibility for
'plagiarized' speech: A brother of Senate Majority Leader Vicente "Tito"
Sotto III threw his full support for the lawmaker after the senator drew
criticisms for allegedly plagiarizing parts of his speech against the
reproductive health (RH) bill.
Comedian Vic Sotto on Thursday came to the defense of his brother, who is in
hot water over allegations of having copied parts of his first and second speech
from Internet blogs.
"Kung anuman ang nangyayari, I believe, kung anumang rason ni Tito, we're all
behind him," Vic told ABS-CBN News.
"Mabuti naman 'yung kanyang mga hangarin eh, wala namang masama sa gusto
niyang mangyari. So we're all behind him. We support him all the way," Vic said.
'Plagiarized' speech
On Thursday, the lawmaker's chief of staff, Atty. Hector Villa Corta,
admitted that they copied the work of American blogger Sarah Pope in the
senator's turno en contra speech on the RH Bill, which Tito delivered before the
Senate last Monday.
Following the admission, the senator took responsibility for the issue.
"Whatever it is, the buck stops with me," Tito told newscast "24 Oras." "I'm
the senator. Whatever I delivered in the Senate hall is what's important. Kahit
anong paninira nila, kahit anong sabihin nila, we'll take it in stride."
Among the supposed "attacks" against the senator after delivering his speech,
are accusations of having put up an act as he turned emotional over his first
child's death, which he blamed on the use of contraceptives.
Vincent Paul
In an interview with ABS-CBN News, Tito's brother Vic also recounted the
personal tragedy. Vincent Paul, the first child of Tito with actress Helen
Gamboa, died five months after he was born in 1975.
"Magkasama kami ni pareng Joey (de Leon) doon," Vic recalled. "Kaming
magkakapatid, araw-araw binibisita namin 'yun, 'yung baby niya noon, si Vincent
Paul."
"Bago kami mag-uwian, daan muna kami sa hospital, sa Makati Med, tingin muna
kami, kwentuhan, araw-araw 'yun. Hanggang sa nawala na nga," he added.
Gamboa and his daughter with Tito, actress-singer Ciara, earlier defended the
senator for the use of his personal experience in his speech.
Appeal for respect
Ciara appealed for respect from his father's critics, and expressed dismay
over "personal attacks" made against the lawmaker.
"'Yung mga nambabato, tiradang pikon nalang 'yun, hindi na dapat pinapansin,"
Vic also said.
"Pagka-rume-react nang matindi, ibig sabihin may tinatamaan. Kaya siguro
napipikon 'yung ibang tao. Pati nga ako nadadamay, pero wala kay Tito 'yun," Vic
added.
The veteran comedian also echoed Ciara's appeal: "'Yung isyung ito is very
divisive, ika nga. You cannot please anybody. It''s either you're anti- or your
pro-RH bill. You just have to respect each other's opinion on it. Mag-respetuhan
nalang tayo."
Sotto immune from plagiarism raps, top aide says
by RG Cruz, ABS-CBN News Posted at 08/17/2012 5:44 PM | Updated as of
08/17/2012 11:09
Sotto not covered by copyright rules, lawyer claims
MANILA, Philippines - The chief of staff of Senate Majority Leader
Vicente Sotto (photo) on Friday said they committed no crime in lifting
portions of his anti-reproductive health (RH) bill speech at the Senate from the
web.
Atty. Hector Villacorta also feels that blogger Sarah Pope of
thehealthyeconomist.com is just reacting after her sensitivities were offended.
Villacorta claimed that the Internet is public domain, that governments are
exempted form copyright rules, while Sotto himself enjoys parliamentary immunity
as a legislator.
Villacorta told ABS-CBN News Sotto used research for his speech since he is
not a doctor.
"Nagtatampo pala sila pag naqu-quote sila. Blog site is public domain, you
should be open to be quoted from all over the world. What law did we violate
only her sensitivity was. Because there is no crime, we used information from
public domain they're making issue of the way it was quoted."
"The rule of copyright gives government a chance to use some of materials.
There's principle in law if there's a crime there should be a law punishing it.
Was she commercially injured? Wala naman eh. No crime, no law violated."
Villacorta was also asked to comment on claims by journalist and blogger
Raissa Robles that Sotto may have also copied from 5 bloggers and one United
Nations briefer.
'Anyone can use blogs'
"Blogs are public domain. Anybody can use it [sic]. Government is exempted
from the copyright rule. As a general principle, you cannot withhold information
from government," he said.
Villacorta said Sotto's speech and Pope's work quoted a book by Dr. Natasha
McBride on the side effects of birth control pills.
He said Pope can sue Sotto in the US if the Philippines has a treaty with the
US on intellectual property.
Asked how Sotto is taking the controversy over the alleged plagiarism,
Villacorta said, "he is smiling and napapailing because content of speech being
sidetracked."
"Bloggers, beware what you put out on the web. You should not cry if used by
the web," he claimed.
Caught via Google search
However, Alfredo Melgar, a blogger who pointed out the likeness of Pope's
2011 blog port to Sotto;s privilege speech, argued that it's how Pope's blog was
used, and not the fact that it was used, that spells the diffrence.
"Totoong pwedeng gumamit ng impormasyon, pero yung paraan ng paggamit ng info
katulad ng ginawa nila na pangungusap ni Sarah Pope ginamit, at 'di sinabi na
kay Sarah Pope," he explained.
Melgar pointed out that Sotto's office still hasn't owned up to plagiarizing
the piece, but merely stressed that they quoted from the same book Pope referred
to in her blog.
Melgar said Pope herself said the lifted parts in Sotto's speech was hers and
not from her reference book.
He said Google search was key to how he caught the copied content.
He said that after Sotto made his emotional speech against birth control, he
was drawn to the technical terms Sotto used.
Those technical words are what he keyed in to Google search and which led to
Pope's blog.
Melgar said 8 sentences from Pope's blog were in Sotto's speech.
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
All
rights reserved
PHILIPPINE
HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE [PHNO] WEBSITE
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/phnotweet
This is the PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE (PHNO) Mailing List.
To stop receiving our news items, please send a blank e-mail addressed to: phno-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Please visit our homepage at: http://www.newsflash.org/
(c) Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
-------------------------------------------------------------Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/phno/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/phno/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
phno-digest@yahoogroups.com
phno-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
phno-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
PH Headline News Online. Copyright 2011 All Rights Reserved