Celebrity-turned-senator Vicente “Tito” Sotto III did not utter any apologies nor mention about his speech and its plagiarism issue with that of the American-based blogger Sarah Pope and other articles online. Instead, Sotto, together with the Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, ‘proposed crafting a bill that will define and regulate blogging in the Philippines.’
Per Rappler’s report, Sotto regarded the recent allegations against him as cyber-bullying. The senator was even quoted saying that he’s the “kauna-unahang senador ng Pilipinas na naging biktima ng cyber-bullying.” (I am probably the first Philippine senator to be a victim of cyber-bullying.)
Defending Sotto, Enrile admitted that he’s not Internet literate but suggested to make way for a bill that will set parameters on blogging.
This looks like a good move for Senate Majority Floor Leader Tito Sotto. However, this does not make any clear reconcillation with the blogger whom he reportedly plagiarized some parts of his speech against the Reproductive Health (RH) Bill.
The attempt to create a bill for bloggers may even be complicated knowing that the two senators obviously do not know how to value this growing sector in the society.
Personally, I believe, Sotto can just simply apologize for the plagiarized speech. That will go a long way. But with the way he managed this issue, I don’t think he’s going to bow his head to the blogger whom he initially belittle.
Photo Credit: Remate.
This post was first published at KabayanTech.com.
