Academics from the University of the Philippines, Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University have joined forces with U.S. bloggers in the effort to take Senator Vicente Sotto III to task for allegedly plagiarizing his speeches.
The educators and bloggers will file a complaint with the Senate Committee on Ethics and Privileges against Sotto for violating the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines.
The violation, according to the Rules of the Senate Committee on Ethics and Privileges, is "improper conduct which may reflect upon the Senate."
Related story: Three US bloggers set to file plagiarism complaint vs Sen. Sotto
Sotto, in his speeches and during interpellations of the Reproductive Health Bill did not “"provide citation information or indicate in any way that this material was written by others", according to a collective complaint penned by bloggers Sarah Pope, Janice Formichella, and Peter Engelman.
Joining the bloggers are Dr. Sylvia Estrada Claudio, PhD, Director, UP Center for Women's Studies; Dr. Antonio P. Contreras, former Dean of College of Liberal Arts, De La Salle University; and Dr. Lisandro Claudio, Department of Political Scince, Ateneo De Manila University.
Red D. Tani, President of Filipino Freethinkers, Inc., also joined the complaint. Also, the Akbayan Women's Committee lent its voice to the academics’ call for Sotto to account for spreading lies about the Reproductive Health Bill.
Earlier news: 'Tired' Sotto eyes quitting committee post
Meanwhile, Sotto and his staff, going through the bloggers’ complaint with a fine tooth comb and paying particular focus on minutia, questioned the its authenticity, pointing out that it did not even have an official letterhead.
They also pointed out that the complaint did not mention anything about laying the matter before the Senate Ethics Committee. — DVM, GMA News
Reelectionist Antonio "Sonny" Trillanes IV became the last senator-elect to have his arms raised by poll officials after the May 13 elections.
