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!
all i can say is that the roman catholic church in the philippines has to recognize the delineation between church and state. its leaders have no right to ram its dogma down the throat of people whose beliefs run contrary to theirs. medieval idiots!
plagiarism is plagiarism! be a man and own up to it. apologize properly. you want to defend babies? dont act like one!
hi sarah,
it’s sad how you got involved in all this but i hope before you take the side for the RHBill you actually read it first. i realize you are for choice and you are right about that but the bill doesn’t give catholics the choice to refuse therefore there is no more freedom for those who are against it. fyi, if any of the women want free contraceptives it is already available in the local health centers. the local govt spends for it. we do not need another law which will allow law makers to spend more on contraceptives, force gr. 3 students to listen to sex education when they can learn this in gr. 5, penalize employers for not distributing condoms to their employees…this bill is actually a step to legalize abortion. we want the P14 billion to be used to educate girls and women so they have more opportunity and therefore have less children. we have a magncarta for women and children that can provide for reproductive health issues.
our govt cannot even provide basic health care to the poor. where is the logic in spending P14billion a year on contraceptives?
Yeah, right I’ve read the RH build.
You know I actually support the church’s notion to stop the RH bill. However, it has absolutely nothing to do with religious crap like the according to God, “Go forth and multiply.”, and that sort of trash. This post is not against the Almighty though, hope you don’t misinterpret. I just don’t see why the damn Catholic Church is interfering with sex and reproductive health education. (Boy, if God can really see them now, they would be punished severely..) Remember that the church has a history of being the most corrupt institution ever. (I read it from Royal Scandals.) and also,, as for believing that the Earth is the center of the universe ( :hysterical: ), they only admitted they wrong in 1995 (after many centuries, the divine, holy, miraculous Church).
Still, even though they’ve got their reasons all wrong, I like the church contradicting the RH bill. Why? Simple. The financial part. I will not get into the details of my suspicion, as it is too delicate to do so, but at least I want to let you see the big picture. I totally disagree with the Church’s reason for opposing the RH Bill, but I also agree that it should not be allowed, not just yet. There are still a lot of things that have to be amended in there, especially what the funds will be used for. :hysterical:
I want to share that I took the pill for 13 years…healthy non-smoker, no other risk factors etc, so I was a good candidate my doctor said.
I wish I knew the real risks.
At 39 I was almost obstructed wtht a cancer tumour in my colon before they found it and I had to have surgery.
I regret having the subtotal colectomy.
I regret taking the pill for 13 years, but I am glad to be on a different path of wellness and nutrient dense foods as a result of my health struggles.
Please, anyone reading this comment, understand that this is an extremely unscientific outcome, starting with the word ‘healthy’. A healthy diet of grains and low fat foods? Who would know. It is sad and unfortunate, but you simply cannot connect those dots. This is dangerous territory if you do not open your mind to other factors that may have led to this illness.
Personal experience does not make someone an expert on the matter.
Ana Lynna Sandoval, there is a lot of grayness or nuancing in this matter. It is not all black and white. Yes, the RH bill is GOOD because it will educate and give more choices to people, especially poor women. Yes, some contraceptives have possible side effects. The pill can be beneficial in controlling how many children you want to have. The pill can have side effects. It is not one or the other. A person can be pro-RH bill, and yet, opt not to use the pill. A person can be pro-RH bill, and also be ambivalent about the possible side effects of some of the contraceptives. I hope this helps clarify matters.
sorry i mean Mrs.
You know Ms. Sarah, even though the most righteous course of action would be to sue the senator, you’ve made the better choice. Filing a complaint of plagiarism in the Philippines is like filing a nonexistent case. In fact, they usually try to make the righteous move backfire at the person who initiated it.
sotto is representative of philippine politics.
it is full of has been actors, unprincipled criminals, and political families all hell bent on maintaining the status quo for the elite.
the corruption is staggering and is actually getting worse permeating all levels of society.
whether it is copying tv shows, products or ideas the filipino way is always the easy way, and for someone else to do the work, or play the victim and get aid/help.
when the national sport is cock-fighting, the main interest is videoke and the primary dream is to leave the country no wonder it remains a backwater in the developing world and amongst its neighbours. tourists skip the guns, pickpockets and dangers of the philippines for the culture and beauty of cambodia or thailand. investors look to singapore, s korea and even vietnam.
filipinos are good people but abused by their own leaders who possess little intellect or integrity, just hypocricy. sad, since they deserve better.
I want change, I want to be educated I assume every Filipino does. We want to put an end to poverty, control the population and stop the corruption. But how? Even this RH bill, i like the idea of it, educate people and let them have a choice ( especially women ). Somehow theres still a doubt that lingers. I feel that theres always someone who will take advantage of this bill for their own benefit and corrupt it. I am aware that my (our) country the Philippines is in a very difficult challenges right now, why there is no other choice beside RH bill? If this bill will be pass wld it reach those families high in the mountain (that they have to walk 3hrs or more jst to go to a clinic or sch. ) If it will be implemented for how long are they going to be doing it? like every road that gets to be fix during election and left unfinished afterwards ( *ningas kugon* we are all familiar w/ ).
I dont speak english as everyone here does, you may find alot of grammatical error, wrong spelling, u can bash me with all u might or call me names but If you are going to bring a child in this world then u have to make sure that the child will receive all the care and love it deserves and help that child prosper and be a better person/citizen. If you cant or in doubt that you will or simply doesnt know anything about responsiblities and parenting or u r not ready or u have already alot and theres no means to support them please consider or choose contraceptive/condoms or other means to control. For me its a greater sin to neglect, abandon, hurt, uneducate and starve a child than to use a contraceptive measures.
Trust. I dont have it anymore. How can you trust govt officials and all these politicians when all they do is lie, be arrogant and steal just because they can. These political figures are the one preventing us to change cuz if ppl are educated how can they corrupt, make money and do all illegal stuff. They using religion and Gods name to fool the masses. They’ll cry, fake their health, put a cast on their neck, sit on the wheelchair just to arouse sympathy from the public. Those who oppose this kind of situation/pubic officials here is just a minority. There are still millions that has been deceive by this acts, smiling in the tv, holding a poor baby in time of election, going to the wet market and shaking a vendors hand. The ex president who has been ousted b4 for corruption was number 2 in the rank in last presidential election he still had millions of voters what the hell right?
If a public servant or his staff steals an idea what more they can steal? If they cant say a simple sorry and belittle an educated person what more they can do to an ordinary citizen who doesnt know what blog is?
Plagiarism, Rh bill, there will be ppl using this for their own benefit, drag the issue make a name for themselves for the next election, or someone will highlight this plagiarism so ppl will forgot about poverty in Phil. or someone will make a bigger scandal about a celebrity so that our attention will shift. Choose whichever same story goes on and on.
Who am i? an ofw, a breadwinner of 5 sibling and sick mother, single, no kids, been to worse, been to alot of racial discrimination bcuz I am fr 3rd world country, been in a tough times when i was a kid till now my story is the same with all the ofws around the globe.
I am still holding on to my country, wishing it will be different and hoping my siblings will have a better life as well as the next generation.
Sarah……..education and choice will all want it.
sorry what i mean is i dont speak english well like others*
Dear Sarah,
I quoted you on a post I made. Unlike our “esteemed” (cough) Senator, I cited you and the url of this post where I quoted you. (http://lourussel.tumblr.com/post/29585413731/a-thief-is-a-thief-mr-senator-denying-it)
All the Best..
hi,
i feel a bit ashame on behalf of the ‘honorable’ senator. let me assure you though that most of the Filipinos here are on your side, and do not tolerate such deed of plagiarism.
you can view our sentiments on the matter thru the following link. http://www.rappler.com/nation/10668-sotto-s-staff-admits-plagiarism