In the world of the academe PLAGIARISM is a form of theft. Our teachers taught us not succumb to plagiarism and exercise our own creative minds to come out with ideas to contribute and further enrich the journalistic community. If there is a need to lift the ideas of other people it is common courtesy to acknowledge such ideas as theirs. Owning up to the ideas of others is what constitutes plagiarism. At least that was what I was taught.
The good Senator Vicente Sotto decriminalized plagiarism by repeatedly condoning his writers to lift written works of other people for his own good. But what is blatantly despicable about it was that instead of apologizing he even pointed to the fact that plagiarism is not a criminal offense in the Philippines. Point taken Mr. Senator sir! We now know the basis of your moral compass---pag walang KULONG---OK LANG!
With this in mind I pose a challenge to the other law makers of this land to draft a law to criminalize plagiarism. It is after all a form of INTELLECTUAL STEALING very much like the issue of piracy. Heck! Let us INSERT this as part of Republic Act 10175! Isn't it that the victim of the first (that we know of) plagiarism issue against the good senator is a blogger?
Is there is truth to the rumor that the insertion of the libel clause in the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 was a form of payback from our dear senator for the "cyber-bullying" he got? In his interview this morning with Unang Hirit's Arnold Clavio, Mr. Sotto vehemently denied this and said that the libel clause was already there even before he was cyber-bullied. Personally, I'm no longer inclined to believe whatever our good senator says.
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