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!
I never did like Tito Sotto. Plagiarism is still plagiarism. He should still quote and give credit even if it is a blogger. My blood boils when I heard him say “Why should I quote a blogger?”
Well, at least we know what a fake he is. He doesn’t even know what original and unique means.
And oh…the lawyer is an idiot. *face palm*
Hi, i really hope you sue the idiot and his cohorts. Pls help the Philippines get rid of brainless and unethical politicians
You enlightened a lot of people about plagiarism. I want to share my blog post to you, Sarah:
Just look on the bright side, Sarah. This incident brought too much traffic to your blog. 🙂
Hi Ms Sarah! I just watched your interview in The World Tonight. I agree with you 100% Sen Sotto should have acknowledged his mistake and apologized instead of denying it. I honor your patience and wisdom. Perhaps this experience will make him eat humble pie.
Oh please please please make just one edit and take out the word esteemed. If there is anyone who does not deserve the word it’s Sotto. For somebody who made a living by tasteless slapstick comedy and then using popularity as an actor to catapult himself into politics and power, he’s the lowest of the low. The fact that he can look into the camera and lie about what’s painfully obvious does not make him esteemed. I sympathize with him on the loss of his son, 37 years cannot erase that pain. But to use that experience and act it out on the senate floor is distasteful, especially when it’s very apparent that he’s just doing it to get the Church’s support.
The phil. bishops are anti-RH but Sarah is the “Pope”, therefore, as a catholic i will support her….
You’re a FAKE Catholic!
Finally, someone got smart enough to figure me out!!! I was wondering how long it would take. But here are some things we ought to remember.
First, Sarah’s view is that the birth control pill has side effects, and they may affect the children, and even grand children. That much she has made clear.
Sarah said her work was plagiarized by Sotto, who is a staunch anti RH advocate.
It is going viral that Sarah is a staunch pro-RH advocate. Photoshopped pictures of her have captions like pro-RH.
Until Sarah says that she fully supports the passing of the RH bill, this is going to be another case of Roe vs. Wade.
wait. i dont get the connection with roe vs wade. elucidate?
i won’t try to make this exchange more complicated than it already is so i will not attempt to explain roe vs. wade, even though i *think* i understood what ana lynna sandoval is trying to say.(anyway, i don’t think roe vs.wade can be explained neatly in a nutshell)
ana lynna sandoval, i am pro-RH but RH supporters who go over the top and use this Sarah-Sotto issue to rally their cause– without even taking time to be properly informed– makes me want to grit my teeth. every. effin. time.
You seem to be handling the situation well, Sarah. Women should have the right to choose whether or not to use birth control, breastfeed, or any other subject related to reproductive rights.
I respect you sarah, despite sotto’s condescending remark about you being just a blogger, you didnt stoop down to his level. Classy act!!!! I salute you!!!