MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed his former professor Jose David Lapuz, a self-confessed plagiarizer, as presidential consultant for education and international organization.

Lapuz’s appointment paper was signed on February 17 but released to Palace reporters on Monday, March 6.

JUST IN: Duterte’s former professor Jose David Lapuz appointed presidential consultant for education. @rapplerdotcom pic.twitter.com/rtqaXOh7d8

— Pia Ranada (@piaranada) March 6, 2017

Lapuz, who teaches at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP), was Duterte’s political science teacher at the Lyceum of the Philippines University in the 1960s.

He was reportedly supposed to have been appointed chairman of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) at the start of the Duterte administration.

Lapuz has admitted to committing plagiarism, a wrongdoing particularly looked down upon in the education sector.

Rappler reported in July 2016 that at least 20 of the 61 articles in Lapuz’s book, Perspectives in Politics: Public and Foreign; Rationalizing the Irrationalities of Politics were tainted with plagiarized text.

The book is a compilation of Lapuz’s articles and speeches delivered or published in newspapers throughout the years. It was published in 2005 by the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Publishing House.

Text was lifted, without attribution or acknowledgment of the original source, from various books and articles, primarily authored by international academicians.

Lapuz himself admitted to his wrongdoing, saying, “My heart aches, my heart feels agony and sorrow for these sins of commission and omission in my writings.”

“Definitely and unquestionably, failure to identify the source of borrowed text is unallowable,” he added.

Horror stories from former students

When news broke that Lapuz might be appointed CHED chief, his former students spoke up online.

Some of his UST students claim Lapuz required them to read about his achievements and collect newspaper clippings of his published press releases and columns.

Students complained that discussions in his class revolved mostly around him instead of national hero Jose Rizal – the subject of his course.

Lapuz spoke in at least two of Duterte’s campaign sorties, including his May 7 miting de avance in which he spoke at length about his pride in having been the professor of a future president. – Rappler.com