Did Senator Tito Sotto Commit Plagiarism?

Posted by: Gab August 16, 2012 in News 1 Comment

Recently, Senator Tito Sotto was emotional during his privilege speech against the Reproductive Health (RH) Bill. Sounds convincing, but what most people do not know is that parts of his controversial speech were allegedly copied from a blog post.

According to Alfredo Melgar on the Filipino freethinkers blog, Sotto’s “scientific proof was copied entirely and almost word-for-word from an article by a blogger calling herself ‘Sarah, the Healthy Home Economist’.”

These are excerpts of Sotto’s speech as compared to Sarah’s blog:

Sotto’s speech:

“According, to Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride MD, the use of the pill also causes severe gut dysbiosis. What is worse, drug induced gut imbalance is especially intractable and resistant to treatment either with probiotics or diet change.”

Sarah’s blog:

“According, to Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride MD, use of other drugs such as the Pill also cause severe gut dybiosis. What’s worse, drug induced gut imbalance is especially intractable and resistant to treatment either with probiotics or diet change.”

Sotto’s speech:

“Gut imbalance brought on through use of the pill negatively impacts the ability to digest food and absorb nutrients. As a result, even if a woman eats spectacularly well during pregnancy, if she has been taking oral contraceptives for a period of time beforehand, it is highly likely that she and her baby are not reaping the full benefits of all this healthy food as the lack of beneficial flora in her gut preclude this from occurring.”

Sarah’s blog:

“Gut imbalance brought on through use of The Pill negatively impacts the ability to digest food and absorb nutrients. As a result, even if a women eats spectacularly well during pregnancy, if she has been taking oral contraceptives for a period of time beforehand, it is highly likely that she and her baby are not reaping the full benefits of all this healthy food as the lack of beneficial flora in her gut preclude this from occurring.”

Sotto’s speech:

“Pathogenic, opportunistic flora that take hold in the gut when the pill is used constantly produce toxic substances which are the by-products of their metabolism. These toxins leak into the woman’s bloodstream and they have the potential to cross the placenta. Therefore, gut dysbiosis exposes the fetus to toxin.”

Sarah’s blog:

“Pathogenic, opportunistic flora that take hold in the gut when The Pill is used constantly produce toxic substances which are the by-products of their metabolism. These toxins leak into the woman’s bloodstream and guess what, they have the potential to cross the placenta! Therefore, gut dysbiosis exposes the fetus to toxins.”

Sotto’s speech:

“Not well known is also the fact that use of the pill depletes zinc in the body. Zinc is called ‘the intelligence mineral’ as it is intimately involved in mental development.”

Sarah’s blog:

“Not well known is the fact that use of The Pill depletes zinc in the body. Zinc is called ‘the intelligence mineral’ as it is intimately involved in mental development.”

In an interview with Karen Davila on ANC’s “Headstart” , Senator Sotto belied that he committed plagiarism, saying his team does not look at blogs.

Sotto said it just happened that he and Sarah had quoted the same source of medical information.

“Pareho kaming pinagkunan. I’m quoting Natasha Campbell McBride. Why should I quote a blogger? Blogger lang siya,” he said.

“Palagi kong sinasabi, hindi po ako nagmamarunong. Hindi ko ito inimbento, galing ito sa mga eksperto…sila kino-quote ko. Katotohanan ang pino-point out ko,” he added.

According to Wikipedia, plagiarism is defined in dictionaries as the “wrongful appropriation,” “close imitation,” or “purloining and publication” of another author’s “language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions,” and the representation of them as one’s own original work.