To promote honesty and integrity in public service, a congressman has filed a bill seeking to criminalize "plagiarism" or the wrongful use or close imitation of another person's work. In filing House Bill 3729 or the proposed “Anti-Plagiarism Law," Quezon City Rep. Winnie Castelo said recent plagiarism controversies cast shadows of doubt not only on the academe but on people in "high places" in the government. He cited two recent plagiarism controversies:
the one involving Associate Justice Mariano del Castillo and his researcher, and the alleged imitation of the tourism material of Poland in a Department of Tourism promotional campaign. “It is time to give more teeth to our existing intellectual properly laws by classifying plagiarism a criminal offense and not just a violation that is civil in nature," he said. Castelo said severe penalities should be imposed if the violation was committed by lawyers, officers of the court, and justices of the High Tribunal. Under the bill, plagiarism is committed under any of the following conditions: presence of predominantly ulterior intent; unfair use of copyrighted material; moral rights of copyright holders are transgressed; use of copied materials without attribution to the author, and passing off of the work of another as one’s own. If plagiarism is committed by a public official or employee, he or she should be dismissed from the service and imprisoned for a period to be determined by a competent court. If the violator is a government lawyer, he or she should be disbarred and meted a penalty of prision mayor or imprisonment of six to 12 years. The penalty to be imposed if plagiarism is committed by a justice would be disbarment and reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment. Private individuals such as students or private employee who would plagiarize should be dismissed from their school, organization or firm and should be jailed for a period to be determined by a competent court. Plagiarism controversies In his April 28, 2010 ruling on the Vinuya vs. Executive Secretary case, Del Castillo said the court has no power to order the Philippine government to seek a public apology from Japan. The court also cannot order the government to ask Japan to provide compensation to the Filipino women who were sexually abused during the Japanese occupation. The court en banc concurred with Del Castillo's ponencia, but the women later submitted a motion for reconsideration that is still pending in the court. "Newsbreak" reported that Del Castillo lifted portions of his ruling from at least three foreign sources without proper attribution. These publications include: “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 comfort women criticized Del Castillo for allegedly twisting the words of the sources to support his judgment in dismissing their plea. While Del Castillo had denied committing plagiarism, the SC activated its ethics and ethical standards committee to look into the allegations. On October 12, the Supreme Court (SC) cleared Associate Justice Mariano del Castillo from accusations of plagiarism regarding his ruling on World War II comfort women. The court said there was "no malicious intent" in the accidental deletion of footnotes and attribution marks in the ruling. Thus, no plagiarism was committed. Ten of the 15 SC justices voted to clear Del Castillo, saying his researcher had no "malicious intent" when she "accidentally deleted the footnotes" attributing the contested portions to the three foreign sources. "Pilipinas Kay Ganda" tourism campaign Meanwhile, DOT undersecretary Vicente Romano, who claimed responsibility over the conceptualization of the controversial “Pilipinas Kay Ganda" campaign resigned from his post on Tuesday. Romano quit his post over the "Pilipinas Kay Ganda" tourism branding, which had earned heavy public criticism. The pubic disapproval prompted President Benigno Simeon Aquino III to drop the branding altogether and ordered Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim to present a blueprint of the government's tourism program. Critics had questioned whether foreigners could understand the slogan "Pilipinas Kay Ganda," adding the logo's similarity to Poland's "Polska" tourism branding smacked of plagiarism. Romano, a "civil society" blogger who had lambasted the Arroyo administration over corruption issues, apologized to Aquino, Lim, and the Filipino people. – VVP, GMANews.TV 
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