An open letter to Atty. Hector Villacorta, from a humble blogger

Sir, if I might have a word with you.

Before Sen. Tito Sotto’s plagiarism extravaganza this week, I had no idea who you are. You moved in powerful circles in the nation’s capital while I quietly scribbled my thoughts in my little corner of the Internet. Alas, those happy days are gone. Now you’re everywhere I turn in the Philippine blogosphere, littering our space with your arrogant delusions. I’m tired of this. There’s an important debate going on regarding a bill that will drastically affect our country’s future, and you and your big mouth are sidetracking us.

I never thought that an unpaid blogger might have something to teach a senator’s chief of staff, but someone needs to stop you from making a bigger fool of yourself and your boss. Nobody in your office seems willing to do it, so I will. Listen up.

This all started when parts of an anti-Reproductive Health Bill speech made by Sen. Sotto were revealed to be lifted from an article by Sarah Pope, an American health blogger. He denied it, implying that bloggers are too insignificant to steal from, but everyone with a working bullshit detector just laughed in his face. When Sarah heard that a senator from halfway around the world not only stole her intellectual property but also, in her own words, “twisted the message of my blog to suit his own purposes against the women of the Philippines,” she felt the need to respond. (As an aside, see what I did there, when I attributed the words to the source? That’s a quote, Attorney. We’ll get back to that later.)

Now here’s where you come in. You stormed into Sarah’s comment section, dripping false humility and weary condescension, and proceeded to offer an ill-advised pseudo-apology that triggered a chorus of facepalms across the nation. Since then, more blatant plagiarism by Sotto has been uncovered, and you’ve spouted off more of your special brand of idiocy. Frankly, it’s embarrassing. It’s time for you to learn what you’ve been chattering about.

Let’s see. There’s a wealth of misinformation from you in this article from ABS-CBNnews.com. Let’s try to deal with that, shall we?

YOUR WORDS:

• “Blog site is public domain.”
• “Blogs are public domain. Anybody can use it [sic].”
• “Bloggers, beware what you put out on the web. You should not cry if used by the web.”

THE FACTS:

No, Attorney,  a blog isn’t automatically in the public domain.  If an intellectual property doesn’t qualify for a copyright, or if its copyright has already expired, only then is it part of the public domain. Since blogs qualify for automatic copyright protection, and since that protection takes a long time to expire, the information that you and your staff copied for the senator was not, in fact, in the public domain.

You can’t evade  this. The Philippines signed several international copyright agreements, including one specifically designed to protect intellectual property online. We also have our own Intellectual Property Code. You asked where the laws are that would prove the crime of plagiarism was committed. Here they are, Attorney. And yes, just because these laws exist doesn’t guarantee implementation, but it’s kind of disturbing when a lawyer and a senator are either ignorant about them or actively defying them.

YOUR WORDS:

•  “Nagtatampo pala sila pag naqu-quote sila.” (Trans: Their sensitivities get hurt when they are quoted.)

 THE FACTS: 

That was not quoting, Attorney, that was stealing. To quote means to properly acknowledge the source. You know, like I did with Sarah’s words up there and your own ridiculous sound bites. In blogging we do it by linking to whatever website we used as source.  In speech, you have to actually mention the origin out loud. In academic research and scientific literature, there’s a formal system that gives every first-time college thesis writer nightmares. I assume you are familiar with the last one, because you must be using scientific research for Sen. Sotto’s anti-RH Bill arguments, right? Right?

The point is, attribution is important. Without it, you are letting people believe that the words are your own, essentially claiming credit for them. In short, plagiarizing.

YOUR WORDS:

• “Government is exempted from the copyright rule. As a general principle,  you cannot withhold information from government.”

 THE FACTS

I hesitate to venture into this territory because you’re a lawyer and I’m not. But the Philippine Constitution can be read by anyone, and maybe you just need a friendly reminder.

As far as I know, we are not yet a Big Brother society, though we do have a Big Brother television show. Here in the Philippines, we still believe that privacy is a right. Sections 2 and 3 of the Constitution’s Bill of Rights assure me that even the President himself can’t force me to let him read my high school diary and use it for his own purposes without a court order. Of course, if it were a matter of national security, I’ll let him read even the unsent love letter to my old crush, but only if he promises not to post it on Facebook.

As for the claim that working for the government exempts you from obeying the law, we only have to look at the cases of those Supreme Court justices charged with plagiarism to know that that’s just another one of your little daydreams. If you mean parliamentary immunity, sure, but it doesn’t make Sotto less of a lying thief. It just makes him a cowardly lying thief.

I’m sure I missed a few other things, but I’m tired. Obviously one of your staff knows how to use google, so next time, please just ask him to do some research before you use any big words in your interviews.

Or there’s also the possibility of Sen. Sotto just saying he’s sorry. Then this will all eventually blow over and we could go back to concentrating on the RH Bill. Just two words, Attorney. How hard can it be?

Sincerely,

A blogger

UPDATE: Here is a neat timeline of all the events in the Sotto Plagiarism Extravaganza from the site that first broke the story. WARNING: May trigger a reflexive facepalm so hard it might break your nose.

GET INVOLVED: There’s an online petition for the Senate’s Committee on Ethics and Privilege to sanction Senator Vicente Sotto III for his misdeeds.  Why should you care? As the novelist Miguel Syjuco writes so eloquently, “If the senator can’t accept responsibility for something as paltry as plagiarism, where the penalty’s hardly more than a public apology, will he take responsibility in future issues where penalties are more grave? If the senator can’t address our grievances fairly when they’re so small, will he face future grievances that are more costly? “

Related articles

• The Filipino as Frodo (or why you shouldn’t shut up about Sotto)
• Cybercrime Law, RH Bill, and a Call to Vigilance
• God must be maaad
• The Other Sins of Senator Vicente Sotto III
• Sotto accuses bloggers of pay-offs, proposes anti-blogging bill

A tribute to real men

Here’s to men who are worthy of the name. Men who move, who take responsibility, who refuse to be passive. Men who’d rather do it right than take the easy way out or play it safe.

Here’s to men who can fight courageously and give in gracefully, who can stand up for their rights and the rights of those who are weaker, and just as willingly say “I was wrong.”

Here’s to men who can live in the moment, yet also forego temporary gratification for the sake of something more important. Men who know what’s important.

Here’s to men who are strong, passionate, brave, and honorable, men whose hearts are alive.

There are boys, guys, dudes, and blokes, and then there are those who are MEN.

If you are one of them, you are rare.

You stand head and shoulders above the rest and you give me hope.

Here’s to you.

 

Happy 6th anniversary!

It’s been six years since I put up that first post, on Friendster (yes, I know). I’ve been keeping a journal my whole life, and blogging was just another way of doing it. In 2008, I imported the whole thing to wordpress, comments and all, and kept on rambling, most of the time by myself. At first, I didn’t want to tell people I actually knew about my blog; it seemed safer if only strangers were privy to my innermost thoughts. I’m a little braver now, and everyone who has left a comment on this blog has made it a richer experience. It’s been an amazing six years, and some of the highlights are below:

1. First post

1:30 pm in the Botanical Garden

There was this little seaside garden in my old university, and I’d sneak off to just sit there between classes, and write.

2. Most read

My Red Dress Moment

A record breaking 1,547 people read this post, according to site statistics, most of whom found it after Jenny the Bloggess, rockstar of blogging, tweeted the link.

3. Most commented

You know you’re addicted to the Lord of the Rings when…

This is an old post, but my fellow LOTR fanatics seem to have a sixth sense when it comes to finding anything and everything that has to do with Middle Earth on the internet.

4. Most fun to write

Writing prompts

I discovered  writing prompts last year, a sort of exercise where other bloggers would post a theme (a word, phrase, or image) to write about. Not only did it help improve my own writing, I also met many talented bloggers who were taking part.

5. Most enriching experience

30 letters in 30 days

In an effort to step out of my comfort zone, I decided to do this meme where I had to write 30 letters to a pre-selected list of significant people in 30 days. Some of the letters were pretty difficult to write, but it turned out to be incredibly therapeutic.

6. Most common words

According to Wordle, ladies and gentlemen, here are the words I’ve been using the most for the past six years:

 

Weird Coconut Tree

This tree can be found beside the southbound highway (near the zigzag) of Puerto Princesa City in Palawan, Philippines. I have no idea how it got to be this way. Can anyone solve this mystery?

A Tribute to Royal Highness, Kamarikutan, and Paper Boats that Sail for Home