Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III on Thursday belied claims that he plagiarized part of his Turno En Contra speech against the Reproductive Health (RH) bill.

 

According to a blog post by pro-RH group Filipino Freethinkers, part of Sotto's speech was lifted nearly word for word from the blog of "Sarah, the healthy home economist," a US-based writer who also opposes vaccines for children and offers recipes for goodies like grain-free pumpkin cookies. 

 

But in a phone interview with reporters Thursday, Sotto explained that this was the first time he had heard of the said blogger cited by Filipino Freethinkers.

 

He likewise said that it seems that they were just both quoting from the book of the doctor Natasha Campbell-McBride, whom he cited in his speech.

 

"Yung sinasabi nila plinagiarize na blogger daw pareho kami ng pinagkunan. Yun ngang libro ni Natasha Campbell ang kino-quote namin, binanggit ko pa yun, kung blinog nila yun, oh so? Anong masama dun?" he said.

 

"Nakakatawa yung nagsulat nun o nagsabi nun hindi pinakinggan ang speech ko binasa lang kopya...di ko raw sinabi kung ano source ko... ay excuse me, nagkakamali sila, sinabi ko source ko," he added.

 

Sotto stressed that he always says in his speeches that the information he cites do not come from him.

 

"I always say a blanket disclosure these are not from me, anong plagiarism dun?" he said.

 

"Akala nila pumapapel ako [na] katulad nila na kasing dunong nila ako. Hindi, sila lang ang marurunong, ako hindi," he added.

 

The real problem, he said, is that of all the things he mentioned in his speech, the pro-RH groups chose to react only on this matter.

 

"Ang dami-dami ng explosive na sinabi ko. Bakit sila mag-coconcentrate diyan kung hindi ba naman ang importante lang sa kanila eh sirain lang ako at siraan ako," he said.

 

"Sinisiraan lang nila ako, gusto lang nila na sirain ako kasi...yung mga puntong ni-raise ko, hindi nila masagot so ang target nila ako," he added.

 

In the first part of his Turno En Contra, Sotto discussed the negative effects of contraceptives and even blamed the death of his son on the same.

 

In the second part of his speech, he exposed the groups backing the RH bill who were supposedly pushing abortion and population control. — RSJ, GMA News