What is Plagiarism?
As; “to steal and pass off ideas or words of another as one’s own”. Simply put, plagiarism is the process of taking other people’s words and/or ideas and pretending that they are your own. An alternative definition of plagiarism is forwarded by the Collins Dictionary which explains that plagiarism is the practice of using someone else’s work and pretending that it is your own. Plagiarism can also be defined as the act of deliberately trying to deceive your academic tutor by submitting content which is not your own work.
https://www.scanmyessay.com/plagiarism/what-is-plagiarism.php
How Does Plagiarism Happen?
Plagiarism happens for a number of reasons—one is because some students decide consciously to gain credit for the work of others. However, most incidents of plagiarism are not the product of deliberate cheating but of underdeveloped academic skills.
Plagiarism, in these cases, is a consequence of a lack skills needed to be successful in a tertiary learning environment. If you develop these skills, your chances of being accused of plagiarism will be greatly reduced.
Five cases happen in the Philippines
THE KRIP YUSON SITUATION
The accusation: In a blog entry posted on April 6, 2011 sports blogger Jaemark Tordecilla compared veteran writer Krip Yuson’s article on the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) published in Rogue magazine and a GMA News Online article by sportswriter Rey Joble on the late PBA commissioner Rudy Salud. Tordecilla observed, "Almost the whole middle section of Yuson’s article was lifted directly from it (Joble’s article). Whole paragraphs were copied, with very minor changes made."
The response: Shortly after the blog entry was published, Yuson sent an email to Tordecilla which the latter posted on his blog. Yuson wrote, "I may have mistakenly thought that since I had rewritten Rey Joble’s draft for GMA News Online, I was at least part-author of it. While that is moot, I should at the very least have credited Rey for the original draft. Again, my fault. I own up to it."
The aftermath: While there were some members of the Filipino writing community members who were mad as hell about Yuson’s plagiarism, there were also those who said he should be forgiven because he owned up to it anyway. Tordecilla likewise said that he found Yuson’s apology sincere.
THE "IT’S MORE FUN IN THE PHILIPPINES" SLOGAN
The accusation: By January 2011, the Department of Tourism (DOT) "It’s more fun in the Philippines" campaign had replaced the battered "Pilipinas kay ganda" campaign. But, it wasn’t long before people were also slamming it for ripping off a 1951 Swiss tourism slogan that read, "It's more fun in Switzerland."
The response: DOT Secretary Ramon Jimenez, Jr. was unfazed by controversy over the slogan or tagline. He said it was "purely coincidental." Instead, he and his team worked to make the campaign viral. For some reason, people were more forgiving with this fun campaign. Or maybe they were still weary from getting enraged over "Pilipinas kay ganda."
The aftermath: "It’s more in the Philippines" is DOT’s the current tourism campaign. For a time, it fueled a meme frenzy.
https://www.spot.ph/newsfeatures/54502/copycat-nation-10cases-in-the-philippines?fbclid
Sen. Tito Sotto’s RH speeches
The gist: Parts of Sotto’s two speeches on his stand on the controversial RH bill were lifted from different online sources, drawing an online firestorm.
What Sotto did: While Sotto initially denied plagiarizing parts of his first RH bill speech (saying “blogger lang iyon,” drawing even more flak), his then-chief of staff, Atty. Hector Villacorta, admitted that they copied the work of American blogger Sarah Pope. A day later, it was found that Sotto’s staff writers also copied from different websites for the senator’s second speech. But this time, Villacorta defended the senator and stressed that “blogs are public domain.”
What happened next: Like Sotto, Villacorta saw himself at the receiving end of criticism, with netizens calling him “stupid” and “arrogant.”
SC Justice Mariano del Castillo’s ruling on comfort women
The gist: In what is dubbed as a first in the Supreme Court, a decision penned by Associate Justice Mariano del Castillo on World War II comfort women showed that numerous parts were copied from materials written by legal experts abroad without proper attribution. An impeachment complaint was then filed against him over the incident.
What del Castillo did: Castillo’s lawyer, Atty. Louie Oximer, said early in 2012 that the SC justice’s alleged plagiarism is not a high crime and therefore cannot be considered an impeachable offense.
What happened next: Last May, then-Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile hinted that Del Castillo was safe from impeachment, saying that the case against him should be a “mere civil damage suit and not an impeachment case.”
MVP’s graduation speech
The gist: Prominent businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan was in hot water after it was found that parts of his speech during Ateneo’s commencement exercises in 2010 were lifted from passages of other graduation remarks. It was later discovered that MVP’s previous speeches had similarities with those made by other well-known figures such as then-United States President Barack Obama.
What Pangilinan did: The telco executive immediately issued an apology and offered to retire from his duties in Ateneo, but the university’s board of trustees rejected it. The businessman then tendered his “irrevocable” resignation and relinquished the honorary degree conferred on him.
What happened next: Pangilinan eventually regained the public’s trust for being “man enough” to take full responsibility for the actions of his speech writer, whose name was not disclosed. Last year, the businessman joked about not giving any graduation speeches in the future, calling it “toxic” to one’s health.
