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Expect criticisms amid plagiarism controversy, senators tell SC


After Supreme Court (SC) Associate Justice Mariano del Castillo was once again accused of plagiarism, at least two senators said the SC should be ready to take criticisms because of the controversy. "It is my strong belief that any government official, including members of the judiciary, should not be thin-skinned about dissenting public opinion which is permitted in a democratic country like ours," said Senator Francis Escudero said Tuesday. He issued the statement after the SC earlier threatened to sanction 37 faculty members of the University of the Philippines' College of Law for airing a statement against del Castillo over his first plagiarism controversy. "SC members, as all other government officials, are always under public visibility, thus criticisms such as that from the UP Law faculty should be taken constructively, especially given the fact that even our Supreme Court had the matter already investigated," said Escudero. Meanwhile, Senator Francis Pangilinan said the SC should move on from the issue. "Judicial restraint will best serve the interest of the Supreme Court. With all due respect, the Supreme Court should learn to choose its battles and to my mind, this isn't one of them," he said. Del Castillo was first accused of plagiarizing portions of a ruling on World War II comfort women. The SC later exonerated him from the allegations. Now the magistrate is being accused of plagiarizing portions of his April 8, 2010 ruling that granted permission to Ang Ladlad to participate in the May 10 elections as a party-list group. - VVP, GMANews.TV

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