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Resignation of SC justice in plagiarism issue sought


Law professors from the University of the Philippines on Monday called on the resignation of Supreme Court Associate Justice Mariano del Castillo, who is accused of plagiarizing parts of his ruling on the plea of Filipino abuse victims during the Japanese occupation. In a statement, the group said Del Castillo breached the “high standards of moral conduct" expected of the court when he allegedly did not identify the sources of the information he used in his ponencia. “In light of the extremely serious and far-reaching nature of the dishonesty and to save the honor and dignity of the [Supreme Court] as an institution, it is necessary for the ponente of Vinuya v. Executive Secretary to resign his position, without prejudice to any other sanctions that the court may consider appropriate," they said. Del Castillo, currently a subject of an investigation by an SC ethics committee, has denied that he plagiarized his April 28, 2010 ponencia thumbing down the request of sexual slavery victims during the Japanese occupation to have the Philippine government compel Tokyo to make a public apology and provide them with compensation. “It must be emphasized that there was every intention to attribute all sources, whenever due. At no point was there ever any malicious intent to appropriate another's work as our own," a portion of Del Castillo’s letter to his colleagues read. The sources where Del Castillo allegedly borrowed from without proper attribution were “A Fiduciary of Theory of Jus Cogens" by Evan Criddle and Evan Fox-Decent, "Breaking the Silence on Rape as an International Crime" by Mark Ellis, and "Enforcing Erga Omnes Obligations in International Law" by Christian Tams. The UP professors said Del Castillo endangered the integrity and credibility of the SC and undermined the foundations of the Philippine judicial system “by allowing implicitly the decision of cases and the establishment of legal precedents through dubious means." They said the SC cannot accept excuses for failure to attain the highest standards of conduct imposed upon all members of the bench and bar because these undermine the very foundation of its authority and power in a democratic society. “Given the SC's recent history and the controversy that surrounded it, it cannot allow the charges of such clear and obvious plagiarism to pass without sanction as this would only further erode faith and confidence in the judicial system," they said. The professors pointed out that the SC bears the responsibility for the decision. “[So] in the absence of any mention of the original writers' names and the publications from which they came, the thing speaks for [the SC]," they said. - Jesse Edep/KBK, GMANews.TV

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