First, let me extend a very warm welcome to the many new Filipino readers that have discovered this blog in the past 24 hours. My husband is from Australia, so I do get down to that part of the world on occasion and I hope to visit your beautiful country at some point in the future.
It is great to have you here, although the circumstances of our meeting are, to say the least, unusual.
It seems one of your esteemed Senators, Tito Sotto, plagiarized a blog post I wrote on February 23, 2011 entitled How The Pill Can Harm Your Future Child’s Health, lifting entire sections of the article basically word for word that was delivered in a speech to the Senate Floor regarding the possible passage of the highly controversial Reproductive Health Bill.
What’s worse, Senator Sotto is denying the charge of plagiarism, saying in an interview with ABS-CBN:
“Why would I quote the blogger? I was quoting Natasha McBride.”
Nice touch Senator. Â You almost had me convinced you were a nice guy with the tears and all.
Many of your citizens have emailed me assuring me that was a put on, and I’m starting to think they are right.
A thief is a thief, Mr. Senator. Â Denying it doesn’t get you off the hook; it just makes you a lying thief.
On the bright side, I am thrilled that your lapse of moral judgment has brought much-needed attention to the fact that the birth control pill can have devastating consequences to a woman’s long term health and possibly those of her children and even grandchildren.  Gut dysbiosis is a serious condition that has multi-generational consequences that women need to be educated about and completely aware of before making the very personal decision to use them.
It was indeed brave of you to take this controversial position. Â Kudos to you for that.
By the way, I am truly sorry for the loss of your son.
As the mother of two sons myself, I can only imagine the pain and devastation you have felt from such an experience.
While this has been a highly charged and hopefully enlightening experience for all involved, it’s time now to set the drama aside and get back to fighting the good fight by continuing to educate people about how their food and pharma choices affect not only themselves but also those they dearly love.
And although my attorney will likely try to persuade me otherwise, for now I’m moving on as I’ve got work to do.
Women of the Philippines: I am terribly sorry my blog was used and twisted against you. You deserve the choice to use The Pill if you want or need to based on your particular circumstances. While I want you to know that this choice has health consequences as does the decision to use any pharmaceutical drug, I in no way would ever condone taking this choice away from you! Â Mabuhay!
Thank you so much Mrs. Sarah Pope.
We really admire you for that….God bless you & your family.
Love from the Men,Women & Children of the Philippines…:)
Sarah,
Just want you to know that the people who exposed the plagiarism of Sen. Sotto also thinks you arebsome sort of crank which we all know is not the case. See here http://is.gd/3SI9hx
As for me you just won a new reader. and do not mind Tito Sotto he is a big joke.
Regards,
Maribeth
Good day,
Our country has a lot of intelligent people, we’re just being led by STUPID politicians.
Thank you for the information on The Pill.
Best regards,
JP
Atty. Villacorta,
I WILL JUST CAPITALIZE ALL OF THE LETTERS IN THIS COMMENT TO MAKE UP FOR THE LACK OF CAPITAL LETTERS FROM YOUR (I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE SHIZ THAT IS BUT IT SURE IS NOT AN APOLOGY) LETTER. I DID NOT EXPECT TO LOSE MY FAITH ON HUMANITY TODAY. AND AFTER READING YOUR LETTER I THINK “FACEPALM” IS NOT ENOUGH.. *FACEFLOOR* .
Atty. Villacorta and the whole staff of Sen. Sotto, including himself have insulted the thinking minds of the Filipino people by showcasing work that is twisted and plagiarized. Is this really how you perceive the intellect of your fellowmen? You think that by creating, for that ‘copying and pasting’ words, you can manipulate the Senate, the whole Philippines to believe that you are presenting well-researched evidence and proven argument that can perhaps, twist our minds to agree with your stupid claims? How very INSULTING that the whole staff of a Senator of the Republic of the Philippines underestimated the people’s ability to process facts and ideas that you dare feed us with your incompetent JUNK work.
Destiny beckons. You did not expect this, Sarah, but you should be fully aware of the significance of this development. A nation of 100 million people is divided in a debate on RH. For 15 years now, the Philippines have been debating whether or not we should educate our people and provide services for reproductive health.
Some 70% of our people want RH. But the Catholic bishops are adamantly against it. In Congress, Senator Sotto is the central figure in the opposition against RH. Critics to the senator has been arguing that he is using fallacies and that he is not credible, BUT the senator seems unstoppable in his harangues against the bill. Then you arrive — INTO the center-stage of our nation’s debate. I envy you. It seems that destiny appointed you to play a crucial role, without you willing or planning or even wanting it, in stopping the senator and cutting down his credibility. If this bill passes, your name and your blog enter into our nation’s history.
I am not asking you to do anything, much less actively criticizing the senator. Your very blog, your very existence is already undermining him. Already, you have made the RH aspiration of this nation closer to reality. We are a 100 million people, you are one blogger; it is amazing how destiny willed that our paths will cross at this moment in our nation’s history.
Sotto is not just using fallacies. He’s also using misinformation, plagiarism, and melodramatic theatrics to brainwash the uneducated sectors of the Philippines.
An action very unworthy of his elective post. And to insist he did not plagiarise even after caught red-handed? Shame on him for doing this misdeed.
Oops! please excuse the errors in my subj-verb agreements and other spellings…I did not proof-read my comment before submitting (like who should be whom) as my browser is hanging. I wanted to edit but can’t. Thanks!
PLEASE SUE HIM.
Sarah, you are my hero!