MANILA, Philippines – Senate Majority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III denied he plagiarized parts of his speech about the Reproductive Health (RH) bill.
Critics have compared a passage from his speech with that of a U.S. blogger called Sarah.
But Sotto said he never hid the fact that the arguments he used in his speech came from a book of Dr. Natasha McBride, who is famous for developing a concept of gut and psychology syndrome.
"Yung blogger na sinasabi nila, pareho kami ng pinagkunan eh, si Natasha Campbell-McBride. In my speech, I've always said na hindi galing sa atin ito, messenger lang ako. Bakit ko naman iku-quote ‘yung blogger, ang kinu-quote ko si Natasha McBride," he explained.
Sotto added his critics are only bringing up the issue of plagiarism because they could not answer the arguments of McBride.
"Nauubusan [sila] ng sagot sa sinasabi ko so they attack me... Sagutin niyo yung sinabi ni Natasha McBride," he insisted on his critics.
Sotto also reiterated he is in favor of a responsible parenting program but he does not see the need to put it into law. -- ANC