First, let me extend a very warm welcome to the many new Filipino readers that have discovered this blog in the past 24 hours. My husband is from Australia, so I do get down to that part of the world on occasion and I hope to visit your beautiful country at some point in the future.
It is great to have you here, although the circumstances of our meeting are, to say the least, unusual.
It seems one of your esteemed Senators, Tito Sotto, plagiarized a blog post I wrote on February 23, 2011 entitled How The Pill Can Harm Your Future Child’s Health, lifting entire sections of the article basically word for word that was delivered in a speech to the Senate Floor regarding the possible passage of the highly controversial Reproductive Health Bill.
What’s worse, Senator Sotto is denying the charge of plagiarism, saying in an interview with ABS-CBN:
“Why would I quote the blogger? I was quoting Natasha McBride.”
Nice touch Senator. Â You almost had me convinced you were a nice guy with the tears and all.
Many of your citizens have emailed me assuring me that was a put on, and I’m starting to think they are right.
A thief is a thief, Mr. Senator. Â Denying it doesn’t get you off the hook; it just makes you a lying thief.
On the bright side, I am thrilled that your lapse of moral judgment has brought much-needed attention to the fact that the birth control pill can have devastating consequences to a woman’s long term health and possibly those of her children and even grandchildren.  Gut dysbiosis is a serious condition that has multi-generational consequences that women need to be educated about and completely aware of before making the very personal decision to use them.
It was indeed brave of you to take this controversial position. Â Kudos to you for that.
By the way, I am truly sorry for the loss of your son.
As the mother of two sons myself, I can only imagine the pain and devastation you have felt from such an experience.
While this has been a highly charged and hopefully enlightening experience for all involved, it’s time now to set the drama aside and get back to fighting the good fight by continuing to educate people about how their food and pharma choices affect not only themselves but also those they dearly love.
And although my attorney will likely try to persuade me otherwise, for now I’m moving on as I’ve got work to do.
Women of the Philippines: I am terribly sorry my blog was used and twisted against you. 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 as does the decision to use any pharmaceutical drug, I in no way would ever condone taking this choice away from you! Â Mabuhay!
When any of the major TV networks in the US picks up this controversy involving a Philippine senator plagiarising an American bloggers work for Sotto’s arguments in his senate debate, it would be an embarassing sight to see US networks representatives descend on the Philippine senate floor to get Tito Sotto explain his take on this issue. It is embarassing to the country, to the people and to the institution that Tito Sotto represents.
Too many suckups here, aka sipsip.
You know, I’m getting confused already. In Facebook, I read this about the Senator Sotto — Sarah Pope brouhaha. Many pro-RH Filipinos are saying that Sarah is a pro-RH bill advocate. This is how they put it:
Need we say more? The staunch anti-RH bill advocate plagiarized the work of a staunch pro-RH bill advocate!
Sarah, are you or are you not a pro-RH bill advocate? Pro-RH bill supporters are making it viral that you are. Can you post something that will clearly say what your side is on the matter?
Does it even matter what Sarah’s stand on the matter is on a proposed Philippine bill? Would she now be the “celebrity” endorser of a particular stand? The issue here is not whether she is pro or anti RH bill. It’s about someone who used someone’s work and didnt give due credit, and when found out later on, didnt even had the guts to say “sorry” and instead went on excusing himself (or at least his chief of staff making lousy excuses in his behalf)
Of course it matters, specially since she is being described as a staunch pro-RH advocate. So please, Sarah, if you are reading this, are you with us for the passing of the RH bill in the Philippines? Are you with us in making contraceptives available to everyone, specially poor women and teens?
The issue of plagiarism is just the first step. Sarah can help the cause of the pro-RH bill get rid of Sotto. Those who oppose the measure to make contraceptives easily accessible to everyone, specially the poor (who multiply like rabits), and the teens, don’t have a place in the Philippine government.
Anti-RH bill people lie about contraceptives, and Sarah can help stop these people from lying. Sotto, and all those people who say contraceptive kills, need to be removed from office.
Hi Ana,
I can’t speak for Sarah, but I interpret her words (see her statement to the women of the Philippines) to mean that she supports RH education and healthcare for everyone so that people can make their own independent choices.
I believe it is our duty as RH Bill advocates to ensure that the program we support will definitely help everyone, especially marginalized women, in this goal. While I myself share Sarah’s concerns regarding the safety of oral contraceptives, I acknowledge that the priority is education and healthcare, and this is why I believe in the RH Bill, as the way to do this.
Our urgent priority now is to fight to pass this bill. But our work won’t end there. We must continue fighting to ensure the proper implementation of the bill and be true to our ideals of responsibility, informed choice, and human rights.
Best,
Your fellow RH Bill advocate 🙂
P.S. I don’t know if we can say she is a “staunch RH Bill advocate”. Her priority, of course, is her own family and her work in promoting health. But even though she isn’t a Filipina herself, she has been gracious enough to shown her concern for us and state her support for reproductive healthcare and education. I don’t believe she is obligated to do any more than what she’s already done (with regards to our RH debate).
ROSALINDAL is a big piece of JOKE.
I hope the site will help you understand what the pill can do. Pills doesn’t save you from STD, male condoms does.
http://thepillkills.org/
But this is exactly the kind of lie that pro-RH supporters want to dispel. That’s why we, the RH bill supporters, rally behind Sarah in this plagiarism issue, because it is these very same lies that Sotto is trying to perpetuate. That’s why there’s a need for Sarah to sue him, because we have to silence such lies.
SUE SOTTO AND SILENCE THE LIE THAT THE PILL KILLS.
The poor people in the Philippines have to resort to eating Garbage called Pagpag, to feed their large families.
If you have time Sara, please search BBC documentary Pagpag on Youtube, and see how the Filipino destitute gather leftover restaurant waste and convert these into food for their children.
You might want to cry.
In spite of the majority of Filipinos wanting Reproductive Health services, the catholic church has used its influence to stop it.
And that’s also why the pro-RH bill is against the Catholic Church. If we can one by one silence the voices of those who propagate the lie that the pill is dangerous, then all Filipinos can have easy access to contraceptives. Sarah has already done the first step of making Sotto look bad. The next step is to sue Sotto. If we remove the anti-RH bill people one by one, the Catholic Church will not have anymore politicians to do their bidding.
Being pro-RH is being anti-Catholic Church. We who support the passing of the RH bill thank Sarah for paving the way to remove all those politicians in the Philippines who spread lies that contraceptives kill.
Ana, chill… you are actually making pro-RH people look bad….
we should not silence the voice of anybody…
or remove anybody one by one…
you can be Catholic and still be pro-RH because these priest are men and they can make mistakes and they may sometimes be uninspired by God…
not everything about the pill are lies… try to buy a pack of pill and read the contraindications, side-effect etc…
Sarah is not supporting the pill, Just the freedom to make informed choices…
again… chill….
your replies are kinda scary… makes me think you’re some sort of a hitman, “silence” and “remove”… hahaha just kidding…
but seriously, let’s win this RH battle using the RIGHT information because that is what RH is about…
Dear Sarah,
I fully understand how you feel about this issue on “Plagiarism” or in other words that you also said “Thieving”, “Copying”, or whatever else you would like to say in so far as this issue is concern. And for those Filipino citizens that have also posted on this blog with the intentions of giving you the satisfaction that Senator Vicente Sotto is indeed that of what you think. Now, the only question i have for you is that, where do you think all of this is going? If you ask me, NOWHERE! The Senator’s Chief of Staff have expressed their sincere apology, and as a matter of fact even asked you what they can do to make you satisfied and at ease in order for this issue to die and all parties can move on. But instead of offering your forgiveness you retaliated very negatively. That’s a shame. What i was expecting was two parties getting together and resolving each other’s issues and move forward in pushing their concerns. I did not expect that there will be negative responses that will occur between each party. So my suggestion is, just move on and help each other in educating everybody the most effective way, not destroy each other’s personality. Now as far as Senator Sotto’s profile as being a comedian, or what not. For those of you who criticizes him, well why dont you guys step to the plate and for public office. Also, if you guys dont know yet, Senator Al Franken of Minnesota was also a comedian, Governor Arnold Schwarzenneger was a action star, President Ronald Reagan was a movie star. So it seems to me that the United States also have some of what we have in the Philippines in so far as politics or public officials are concern. Thank you very much.
ALVINBRYAN S.BAYSA
AURORA, COLORADO
U.S.A
“But instead of offering your forgiveness…”
You want the wronged party to ask for forgiveness? What?! What in god’s name is wrong with you?
Also, it’s unfortunate that you ostensibly reside in the United States but have a terrible grasp of the English language. It’s “concerned” not “concern.”
Well you know what John, why dont you try and speak my language? Let’s see how that goes. And for you to talk to me that way, let me tell you that I am serving your beautiful country the United States of America and defending its freedom. Before you criticize anybody, not just me about grammar, you better make sure you have perfect grammar.
1. Most people commenting here are Filipino, including myself, in either nationality or ethnicity.
2. As a corollary to #1, I can in fact speak Tagalog.
3. I do not live in the United States, nor the Philippines.
My, my, so many mistakes and presumptions from you. BTW, I’m still waiting for an explanation as to why Ms. Pope, who was the victim of intellectual dishonesty and plagiarism, should ask forgiveness from the comedian.
Eh ganun naman pala eh, nagtatagalog ka pala. Hindi ko naman sinabi na humingi ng paumanhin ang nasabing babae na batay sa iyo ay isang biktima, basahin mo at intindihin mong mabuti ang isinulat ko. Huwag kang bira ng bira. Kung iyong mapapansin ang sinabi ko ay “But instead of offering your forgiveness” at hindi “But instead of offering your apology”, ayusin mo ang buhay mo John. Ang sinasabi ko lamang ay humingi na ng tawad ang isang kinatawan ng senador sa kanya. Ang ipinagtataka ko lang ay bakit hindi na lamang nya ibigay ang patawad na hinihingi ng nasabing kinatawan. Gusto pa niyang palakihin bagkus na magkapatawaran na lamang para matapos na ang usaping ito. At kung makapagsalita ka tungkol kay Senador Sotto, eh para bang hindi ka pinoy. Ilang taon ka na ba at kung makapagsalita ka ay parang kilalang kilala mo si Senador Sotto. Huwag kang masyadong kampante John at baka tamaan ka ng karma. wala akong kinakampihan, nagtataka lang ako na kung bakit pinalalaki pa itong usapin na ito.
A poser.
I do hope you know very well what “sincere apology” is.
John, my take is that the guy thinks Ms Sarah owes the chief of staff some forgiveness because she refused to accept the apology that lawyer was giving. The same “sincere Apology ” Mr. Baysa insists. But I like best how someone here had said it – the Non-Apology apology.
Personally, I think that was full of bs.
However, Mr Baysa is entitled to his own opinion, however far-off his arguments are.
Was it an apology or blatant arrogance? It’s more of the latter.
Now how sure you on that assessment? How would you suggest to say an apology in order for it not to be considered “BLATANT ARROGANCE”? I’m just saying, enlighten me please.
I’m sorry Dear, but what I saw was not what you can call a “sincere apology”. His so-called “apology” certainly lacks remorse, humility, and sincerity–and I guess, 99%+ of the readers here would agree. Frankly, Villacorta should have shut his mouth as his “apology” only added insult to injury.
I personally suggest that the author would lock this post and make it read-only. In the end people would just see (or have already seen) this as a place where they could discuss RH-bill issues and this would eventually end up as an RH-bill debate thread.
It’s good that the author has made her side known about the issue of plagiarism and how her post relates to the issue of artificial contraceptives. But this is getting way out of hand.
the ironic thing is you and the Thieving Plagiarizing Philippine Senator Sotto is on the same side of the fence in regards to The Pill 🙂
an apology must sound very sincere