#Sinotto: Sotto translated Kennedy speech?

MANILA, Philippines – Accusations of plagiarism are nothing new to Senate Majority Leader Tito Sotto III.

Mid-August, Sotto was accused of plagiarizing the first part of his “turno en contra” speech against the controversial Reproductive Health Bill.

The Senator vehemently denied plagiarizing from blogger Sarah Pope. But lawyer Hector Villacorta, Sotto’s chief-of-staff, later admitted to lifting parts of Pope’s blog without attribution.

On September 5, Wednesday, Sotto delivered the final parts of his speech. Moments after, Twitter user Michel Eldiy accused Sotto of translating into Filipino and using parts of a speech by Robert F. Kennedy.

Here’s what she tweeted:

Sotto appeared to have translated parts of a speech Kennedy delivered in South Africa in 1966. 

On her Twitter account, Eldiy explained how she caught Sotto’s latest case of plagiarism.

@jaymolina411 Me. I knew “maliliit na galaw” sounded like an awkward translat’n of smthng orig’ly in Eng. So I googled “ripples courage”.

— Michel Eldiy (@ChiliMedley) September 5, 2012

Sotto’s speech:

Iilan ang magiging dakila sa pagbali ng kasaysayan, subalit bawat isa sa atin ay maaaring kumilos, gaano man kaliit, para ibahin ang takbo ng mga pangyayari. Kapag pinagsama-sama ang ating munting pagkilos, makalilikha tayo ng totalidad na magmamarka sa kabuuan ng kasaysayan ng henerasyong ito. 

Ang mga hindi-mabilang na iba’t ibang galaw ng katapangan at paninindigan ang humuhubog sa kasaysayan ng sangkatauhan. 

Tuwing naninindigan tayo para sa isang paniniwala, tuwing kumikilos tayo para mapabuti ang buhay ng iba, tuwing nilalabanan natin ang kawalan ng katarungan, nakalilikha tayo ng maliliit na galaw. Kapag nagkasama-sama ang mumunting galaw na mga ito, bubuo ito ng isang malakas na puwersang kayang magpabagsak maging ng  pinakamatatag na dingding ng opresyon.

Kennedy’s speech: 

Few will have the greatness to bend history; but each of us can work to change a small portion of the events, and in the total of all these acts will be written the history of this generation. Thousands of Peace Corps volunteers are making a difference in the isolated villages and the city slums of dozens of countries. Thousands of unknown men and women in Europe resisted the occupation of the Nazis and many died, but all added to the ultimate strength and freedom of their countries.

It is from numberless diverse acts of courage such as these that the belief that human history is thus shaped.

Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.

The issue quickly went viral on Twitter, where users coined the term “#Sinotto,” a spin-off of an earlier Sotto-related Twitter trending topic. 

Here are some of the #Sinotto tweets that Rappler was able to compile: