On Plagiarism: Kerry Kenndy's letter to Senator Sotto

Seems like Senator Sotto has attracted more attention from the international spotlight, though in an oddly negative way, after his involvement in "plagiarizing" works of Sarah Pope, Janice Formichella and Peter Engelman during his Turno en Contra speech against the Senate version of the reproductive health bill.

Kerry Kennedy, the founding President of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights ,is the fourth US copyright holder who has expressed her dismay of Sotto's infringement on intellectual property rights.

In her letter, dated November 9, 2012, she urged that "he apologize for his unethical, unsanctioned theft of Robert Kennedy’s intellectual property and the intellectual property of all those whose work he has plagiarized."

"In addition, I am particularly offended to see a speech my father gave in support of global human rights distorted by Senator Sotto as an argument against the right to contraception. Expanding and protecting access to contraception is a global priority I have promoted for years, and limiting that freedom was in no way the topic of the 1966 Day of Affirmation speech," she added.

The full letter of response against Sotto's plagiarism issues is contained below.

Letter Source: Rappler

SPOTTED: Senator Sotto plagiarism troll photo

I was really laughing my ass out loud when I got to see an image that mimics an ever-eternal movie quote as a witty, entertaining attack on recent-shocker-dubbed "serial plagiarist" Senator Tito Sotto. The edited funny prank image you will see below tells a lot.

Photo Courtesy: Kuya Kurt

In a never-dying online assault on unacceptable actions committed by the widely criticized Senator Sotto, a quite-amusing show-it-all Photoshopped photo of Senator Tito Sotto being splashed in a famous movie, Bituing Walang Ningning, where Dorina (if my memory serves me right) utters one of the most recognized script lines in the whole of Philippine movie industry has surfaced. This is super hilarious!

Online petition to oust Senator Tito Sotto from office now viral

An online petition seeking 1 million signatures in 30 days to oust Senator Sotto from the Philippine Senate, initiated by a certain Matt Quiros of Caloocan City, has found its way through social networks Twitter and Facebook. The total number of signatures, as of posting time, is 1,480 and rapidly counting.

The reasons for  removing Senator Sotto off his Senatorial seat were stated in the online petition as the following:

1. He is a popular public figure yet he uses his political and showbiz influence to spread misinformation about reproductive health. Ultimately, this is bad for our brothers and sisters who belong to lower-income families with 5 to 15 children and hence cannot afford proper sex education. 

2. He is a serial plagiarist and shows no remorse about it. He steals other people's opinions when he doesn't have his own and shamelessly distorts them to advance his own stupid, selfish cause. He is a very bad example to the youth who might as well be allowed to cheat in their exams and he bends religious teachings to justify his acts. 

 3. He is sexist. He blames the death of his unborn child on his wife's unconscious use of contraceptives when he could have prevented the accidental pregnancy by wearing a condom during their intercourse. Must the responsibility of avoiding accidental pregnancy always fall first on the shoulders of our women?

Opinions showing reasons to oust the Senator prove the public's discontent and dismay on Senator Sotto's actions as a public figure and influential man.  Senator Sotto's was target of a recent online public rage when he, for the second time, copied and translated into Filipino some parts of American Senator Robert F. Kennedy's Day of Affirmation speech in Capetown, South Africa.

Truly, this turn of events shows the immense power of voice and the malignant effects of opinion especially on heat-resistant debate topics such as the Reproductive Health Bill.

Senator Sotto plagiarizes, Robert F Kennedy speech in Tagalog version

Senator Tito Sotto, in the finale of his "turno en contra" speech against the deeply debated RH Bill, delivered what may be seen as Tagalized or Filipino translation of excerpts of an American senator's speech containing quotes from Archimedes. The original speech by Senator Robert F. Kennedy was delivered at the University of Capetown in Cape Town, Africa on July 1966 in the celebration of the Day of Affirmation (Liberty Day). 

You may view the speech parts concerned and compare the essence of each one through the image below. To enlarge the Sotto and Kennedy speeches, left or right click on the image.

Photo Courtesy: Filipino Freethinkers

Does this not look like plagiarism to you? Air your thoughts below.