SC justice in plagiarism mess inhibits self from comfort women case

Supreme Court Associate Justice Mariano del Castillo, accused of plagiarizing his ruling denying the plea of female abuse victims during World War II, has inhibited himself from the case that is currently on appeal before the tribunal. "Justice del Castillo has written the Chief Justice [Renato Corona] that he is inhibiting himself from the case [to avoid allegations] of any perceived partiality on his part," said court administrator and spokesman Jose Midas Marquez at a news briefing Thursday. 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 Tokyo and ask it 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. In 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. Del Castillo scored, defended The accusation against Del Castillo prompted law professors of the University of the Philippines to call for his resignation, alleging that he tainted the high court’s integrity. “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, however, found allies in a law group and constitutionalist Fr. Joaquino Bernas, dean emeritus of the Ateneo School of Law, where the embattled magistrate studied. In a statement, the SC Public Information Office said Bernas, Pamantasan ng Lunsod ng Maynila College of Law former dean Ernesto Pineda, Philippine Association of Law School president and Xavier University Law School dean Raul Villanueva, and the Philippine Constitutional Assembly have come out to Del Castillo’s defense. The statement quoted Bernas as saying on his Facebook account that “there is a call from [some] quarters for Justice Mariano del Castillo to resign because of a charge of plagiarism. Like everyone else, Justice del Castillo is entitled to due process." — KBK/RSJ, GMANews.TV