MVP ‘borrowed’ from other grad speeches, says sorry

Manuel V. Pangilinan, one of the country’s most prominent businessmen, has admitted to "borrowing"
from other graduation speeches for his commencement address to Ateneo de Manila University
graduates last month.

In a letter to Ateneo University President Ben Nebres that was published on the Ateneo Website on
Saturday night, Pangilinan said, “I wish to express my sincerest apology to you, the University and to the
2010 graduating class."

Pangilinan is chairman of the Ateneo Board of Trustees. He also heads telecommunication giants PLDT
and Smart Communications, and is considered one of the richest men in the Philippines and a
philanthropist active in education, sports and health. He has been rumored to have political ambitions.

He did not state in his apology whom he "borrowed" from, but GMANews.TV has discovered that a
speech by US President Barack Obama was one of his sources, in addition to speeches by author J.K.
Rowling, television host Oprah Winfrey, and comedian Conan O'Brien.

Reports of plagiarism in Pangilinan’s commencement address to the “Ateneo’s Sesquicentennial Batch"

last March 27 had been circulating on Facebook, comparing passages from his speech with
commencement addresses by Rowling, the author of the enormously popular Harry Potter novels, and to
a lesser extent, Oprah.

GMANews.TV has confirmed that he also delivered lines that were similar to passages in a graduation
speech given by US President Barack Obama at Arizona State University in 2009. One example:

President Obama: "For many of you, these challenges are also felt in more personal terms. Perhaps
you're still looking for a job — or struggling to figure out what career path makes sense in this disrupted
economy. Maybe you've got student loans — no, you definitely have student loans — (applause) — or
credit card debts, and you're wondering how you'll ever pay them off. Maybe you've got a family to raise,
and you're wondering how you'll ensure that your children have the same opportunities you've had to get
an education and pursue their dreams."

Pangilinan: "For all of you, these challenges are felt now in more immediate and personal terms. You will
soon be looking for a job – struggling to figure out which career makes sense in this economy of ours.
Maybe you have loans, and are worried how you‘ll pay them down. Maybe you‘ve got a family to help.
Maybe you‘re asking how your siblings can have an Ateneo education like you had."
GMANews.TV also verified that some lines in Pangilinan’s address were nearly identical to passages
in Rowling’s commencement address at Harvard University in 2008.

"I had no idea then how far the tunnel extended, and for a long time, any light at the end of it was a hope
rather than a reality," Rowling said in her speech.

In Pangilinan’s address, this line appears: "I had no idea how far the tunnel of failure extended. And any
light at the end of it seemed more hope than reality."

Rowling: "The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are,
ever after, secure in your ability to survive."

Pangilinan: "The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you
can be secure in your ability to survive."

GMANews.TV also verified passages lifted nearly verbatim from Oprah Winfrey’s commencement
address at Stanford University in 2008.

Winfrey: "Let me tell you, money’s pretty nice. I'm not going to stand up here and tell you that it’s not
about money, 'cause money is very nice. I like money. It’s good for buying things. But having a lot of
money does not automatically make you a successful person. What you want is money and meaning.
You want your work to be meaningful. Because meaning is what brings the real richness to your life.
What you really want is to be surround by people you trust and treasure and by people who cherish you.
That’s when you're really rich."

Pangilinan: "Let me tell you, money’s pretty cool. I‘m not going to stand here and tell you that’s it’s not
about money, because money is sweet. I like money. It’s good for buying companies and things – and for
putting up a few buildings here and there for Ateneo. But having a lot of money does not totally make you
a successful person. What you want is both money and meaning. You want your life and your career to
be meaningful. Because meaning is what brings real richness to your life, to be surrounded by people you
can truly work with – because you trust and treasure them, and they cherish you in return. That’s when
you‘re really rich..."

Pangilinan, or his speechwriter, also found inspiration in a commencement address by Conan O'Brien at
Harvard in 2000, the oldest source established so far.

Conan O'Brien: Fifteen years ago I sat where you sit now and I thought exactly what you are now
thinking: What's going to happen to me? Will I find my place in the world? Am I really graduating a virgin?
Pangilinan: 44 years ago I sat where you now sit, I also thought what you now think – What is going to
happen to me? Where can I find a job? Am I really graduating a virgin?

In his emailed statement to Fr. Nebres, Pangilinan acknowledged that "I have had some help in the
drafting of my remarks, but I take full and sole responsibility for them."

“I am told further that comments posted on Facebook have started to spill beyond graduation," Pangilinan
wrote Nebres, “and are now alluding to my misconduct with respect to Meralco, with former President
Erap, and so forth. Under the circumstances, it is best for the Ateneo and myself to shorten the life of this
controversy and prevent it from spinning out of control."

He said that “this has been a source of deep personal embarrassment for me," and informed Nebres that
he was retiring from his official duties at the Ateneo, his alma mater. Pangilinan is also a major donor to
the Ateneo, with a building named after him and a championship basketball team benefiting from his
largesse.

For a complete breakdown of Pangilinan’s speech and the sources of his "borrowing", click here.

In a response on the Ateneo web site, Nebres said, "We know that this happened without your full
awareness, though you take full and sole responsibility. Thus this does not diminish our admiration and
respect for your person and for your care and accomplishments for our country and for the Ateneo. In
fact, your acceptance of responsibility and apology command our utmost respect."

Nebres added that he did not agree that Pangilinan needed to resign from his duties as Ateneo trustee. "I
believe with many others that what is appropriate is the apology you have given," Nebres said.

As expected the incident is being hotly debated online, with some praising Pangilinan for owning up to the
mistake and offering to resign from his positions in the Ateneo.

But others point out the dilemma Pangilinan has created for one of the most prestigious brand names in
Philippine higher education. "I've known batchmates in Ateneo who were expelled or forbidden from
graduating for plagiarism," noted Facebook user Michael Aquino. "Ateneo needs to show that it regards
plagiarism by patrons/commencement speakers to be just as serious as plagiarism by students. But how
can Ateneo do that without giving up donations?" — Howie Severino and Pia Faustino, GMANews.TV
 -----------------------------

"...She committed plagiarism by lifting and appropriating my words for her own use without a by-your-leave
or a thank-you, how unprofessional, how dishonest, how disgraceful," says writer Angela Stuart Santiago
about ABS-CBN broadcaster Karen Davila (in photo).

Photo by: Noel Orsal

Si Loi Reyes Landicho, 2008 Philippine Blog Awards winner, ang nagpadala sa writer na ito ng
kopya ng reklamo ng writer at book author na si Angela Stuart-Santiago laban sa ABS-CBN
broadcaster na si Karen Davila.

Si Angela ang may-akda ng Himagsikan sa EDSA—Walang Himala!, at sa kanyang Internet blog

(www.stuartsantiago.com) kahapon, August 11, ikinuwento niya ang diumano'y pangongopya ni
Karen sa kanyang akda sa documentary ng ABS-CBN na Laban Ni Cory.

May pamagat na "Plagiarism and, Uh Karen Davila? Is that you?!" ang blog ni Angela.

Ito ang buong bahagi ng pahayag ni Angela mula sa kanyang blog:

"While it was great that upon Cory's death Pinoy TV was swamped with docus that revisited her
exalted place in Philippine history, one docu, Laban Ni Cory, produced and aired many times by
ABS-CBN 2 from August 2, 2009 onward, raised my ire and my eyebrows.

"My ire because some of Karen Davila's narrative spiels covering the period of the snap elections
through to EDSA sounded oh so familiar, so very close to, if not my very own words
in Himagsikan sa EDSA—Walang Himala! and yet there was no attribution, as though Karen
Davila herself researched and wrote the stuff (wow ang galing), something that took me all of
twelve years, lol.

"The docu's closing credits list the writers and researchers. I expect the researchers cited their
sources of info, it's part of the job, and if so, who decided not to mention na lang these sources,
the writers or the hosts? Na okay lang naman as long as magaling sila and they can write the
material in their own words. But even then, dapat ay mayroon pa ring acknowledgement sa dulo
ang sources of information na hindi pa common knowledge.

"Kung hindi pala sila ganoong kagaling, dapat ay inamin nila by writing-in "ayon kay... sa
librong so-and-so...." or maybe it was Karen Davila who couldn't be bothered with "ayon sa's",
akala niya ay makakalusot?

"Whatever, whoever, wittingly or un-, she committed plagiarism by lifting and appropriating my
words for her own use without a by-your-leave or a thank-you, how unprofessional, how
dishonest, how disgraceful.
"Nakakataas ng kilay kasi it doesn't take much time and effort to cite and acknowledge sources.
Unless of course the idea is to give the impression that hosts and writers of ABS-CBN News &
Current Affairs productions are all-knowing and sufficient unto themselves?

"So, okay, now that I've vented, what next? What do I expect? Well, iniisip ko nga. An apology?
Too easy to shed crocodile tears. Credits on the docu? Rather too late, unless of course they have
plans of selling dvds, in which case, okay, credits, and a share in the profits?

ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW

"Suggests a writer friend: like a lawyer can be disbarred, a beauty queen forced to abdicate, ask
for the head of the plagiarist in the form of dismissal or suspension. Or how about punishing the
culprit by having her write a million times in longhand a very long mea culpa — the equivalent
of 20 years of keyboarding chores or tendonitis. Oscar Lopez could also buy the next edition of
your book to give away to all libraries nationwide. Sounds good, all of the above."

PLAGIARISM. Ayon sa Law Encyclopedia, plagiarism is "the act of appropriating the literary
composition of another author, or excerpts, ideas, or passages therefrom, and passing the
material off as one's own creation.

"Plagiarism is theft of another person's writings or ideas. Generally, it occurs when someone
steals expressions from another author's composition and makes them appear to be his own work.
Plagiarism is not a legal term; however, it is often used in lawsuits."

Ito naman ang mga pagkukumpara ni Angela sa malaking pagkakahawig ng narrative spiels ni
Karen sa ABS-CBN documentary na Laban Ni Cory sa nilalaman ng libro niyang Himagsikan sa
EDSA: Walang Himala! para lubos na maintindihan ang isyu:

I
KAREN DAVILA:

(010) Sa paniniwalang sila ang tunay na nanalo sa eleksiyon, isang victory rally ang inilunsad sa
Luneta nina Cory at Doy, na dinumog naman ng mahigit isang milyong tao.

(013) At bilang tugon sa malawakang dayaan sa eleksyon, inilunsad nina Cory Aquino at Doy
Laurel ang civil disobedience campaign. Hinimok ang taong bayan na huwag magbayad ng
kuryente, tubig, at iboykot ang media, bangko at iba pang kompanyang pag-aari ng mga tuta ni
Marcos. Marami ang sumang-ayon at sumunod sa panawagang ito. Wala pang isang linggo mula
nang unang manawagan ng boycott si Cory nameligro ang ekonomiya ng bansa at nataranta ang
mga negosyante.

HIMAGSIKAN SA EDSA-Walang Himala! page 40 last paragraph

Ika-16 ng Pebrero, sa isang "victory rally" sa Luneta na dinumog ng mahigit isang milyong tao,
inilunsad nina Cory Aquino at Doy Laurel ang kanilang civil disobedience campaign. Nagpilit si
Cory na siya ang nagwagi sa eleksiyon at nangakong pupuwersahin niya si Marcos na magbitiw,
sabay hinimok ang taong-bayan na sabayan siya sa pagsuway sa mga utos ng diktador—huwag
magbayad ng koryente at tubig, iboykot ang crony media at crony banks, gayon din ang Rustan's
Department Store, San Miguel Corporation, at iba pang kompanyang pag-aari ng mga tuta at
katoto ni Marcos.

Read more at http://www.pep.ph/news/22804/writer-accuses-karen-davila-of-

plagiarism#464U2oOWmbqO8QdT.99