[OP-ED] Marites Vitug: Sotto’s 2 deadly sins

MANILA, Philippines – Rappler’s Marites Vitug says Sen. Tito Sotto did not only plagiarize — he lied about it. She says these ethical violations are killing values of honesty and integrity.

Senator Tito Sotto did not only plagiarize. He lied about it. 

He denied that he lifted chunks of words from an American blogger’s work.

Sotto’s staff admitted that parts of the speech were indeed copied. But till today, the senator has not apologized. He has shown not a single moment of remorse or humility.

Worse, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile came to his defense. What then can we expect from the Senate when its leader has spoken?

It looks like Sotto will get away with these two deadly sins—fraud and dishonesty—without any sanction.

Sadly, the Supreme Court, which is supposed to be the conscience of our nation, has condoned plagiarism. It cleared one of its own justices who heavily plagiarized a decision.

Elsewhere in the world, public officials resigned because they plagiarized. One was the president of Hungary; the other was the defense minister of Germany.

A judge in Australia was forced to resign after she was found to be a serial plagiarist. In the US, a judge was publicly censured.

Philippine society tends to treat these ethical violations lightly; some rationalize and say that these sins don’t kill.

But they do. Slowly, they are killing our values of honesty and integrity.

– Rappler.com