DALAWANG PISO: Sorry Po Blogger LANG...

For this edition of DALAWANG PISO, it came to my attention that in the midst of the heated debate of the very controversial and  RH Bill(To make it clear that I made my stand that I do not approve the bill), a short statement  was made by Senator Tito Sotto. He is against the bill and  also told the story on how he lost his son brought by its consequences. However, there was something wrong in his speech that raised eyebrows especially to the online community.

On the website of The Healthy Home Economist, the article used in his privileged speech regarding about the bill was said to be plagiarized from her post.  Sotto first denied quoting the blogger and said she was quoting Natasha Campbell-McBride. And then also gave a statement of “Bakit ko naman iko-quote ang blogger? Blogger lang iyon. Ang kino-quote ko si Natasha Campbell-McBride." Which sounds really wrong to bloggers like me. Later, Sotto's staff admitted to have used the blog post with a letter sent by Atty Hector Villacorta from the office of Senator Sotto. 

The quote also got reaction from various Filipino Blog communities, one of which is PEBA Inc (Pinoy Expats/OFW Blog Awards). And has been the talk of blogger discussion groups. And so the issue is now spreading via social networking sites. I have also read a number of blogs that, like me, furious about what they think of this predicament as something light and carry on. Cheerio?

Being one of the non-RH Senator, he made his privileged speech at the right place, at the right time but with a wrong piece. As humans, we do understand the pain of the loss of his son which is one of the reason he is against the bill. However, its a sin to tolerate people that an obvious crime of plagiarism was made which is technically intellectual theft. 

For my dalawang piso, it seems that there is something wrong here. I don't question Senator Sotto's stand on the bill or his grief on that heart breaking loss. However the things that are wrong here are:  (1) Plagiarizing an article from a blogger and even denying it (even proven that original content did came from the post), which later on was admitted by his staff. (2) Though understandable that he is not into the blogging community, his small statement " Blogger Lang" is somehow a "rude" way to see their existence. It maybe addressed to a specific blogger but does it mean blogs and bloggers are irrelevant? Also with their letter to Sarah Pope, the author of the blog seems to put the guilt on her rather than to apologize for the damage done. 

I am not calling for heads to roll, but rather an sincere apology letter or statement for this issue only. Plagiarism is a crime, and it is ironic for a lawmaker to break a law  that is a very obvious practice. Dear Senator Sotto I know you may be stressed, but as a citizen of the Philippines, a blogger and a netizen, if you really care about public welfare you would listen to this simple post of what I feel and also of the people online. Don't think that bloggers or online people are something you can exempt from rules that you made to get get out of this needle hole. It's so freaking obvious, and the worse part is it was from someone abroad which makes thing go internationally. I feel now uncomfortable with you and your staff as if you think you also own our souls just because we work and write online. There is still time to redeem yourself dear senator and your staff, definitely my vote is not for you. This is my dalwang piso, it's time to make it... or break it...

DALWANG PISO: RHetoric Monologue

Kung may anti RH at pro RH, meron din namang dedma RH. 

Before making a stand, better know the law is about, mahirap na ang makisama sa bandwagon ng pro at anti dahil uso ito. Ang tanong ay nabigyan ba ng publiko ng tamang impormasyon ukol sa batas? I personally don't have a firm stand because like a thesis, this bill should be properly studied. As many RH supporters point out overpopulation is the reason why the bill is needed, our population as a country has been concentrated in cities like Manila, which is now the most densely populated city in the world, while in the provinces well there is land and resources but no infrastructure and capital. While most Anti-RH supporters, mostly from the Catholic church and religious organizations on the other hand point that the bill would be promoting sex without the guilt.

Although many supporters of the bill says that aside from reducing unwanted pregnancies, it would also help reduce mothers who die because of pregnancy complications. On the other hand, Anti-RH says that the bill would be impractical because of giving a large budget for contraceptives rather than using to money to create jobs and education.

For this moment, lets exclude our personal beliefs and political motives, so we can focus on the essence of this controversial (and overexposed) bill.

For my Dalawang Piso, like any other bill there are pros and cons that the proposal would create, but they would always have the objective that will benefit the country and its citizens. Actually we should look at healthcare which is the common denominator of this bill. Access to general healthcare has always been scarce in the country especially to poor provinces.

Well contraceptives of many kinds has been available for so long but some are considered "pricey" to the poor which are the ones who have big numbers of children. But the RH bill won't make a miracle of reducing the population overnight, though it would slow down annual population growth. The price of the bill seems to high that some can be allocated to other priorities that poor people need.

It's kind of ironic that mostly both anti and pro RH that are not the direct benefactors of the bill (like priests, celebrities, government officials, legislators, online personalities), are the ones making a great debates and intellectual insights of the boon and bane of the bill while it is seldom or rare to hear opinions and even the idea of the bill from the mothers, fathers and poor families.  And in the end, if the bill is passed or not, the choice would still be with the individual person. Give them a condom, will they use it or not?

Whatever your stand may be, just make sure that you have read the bill first. And also there are also a lot of things we can do today that can make a difference than focusing all our resources on our anti or pro RH campaigns. This is my dalawang piso, take it or leave it.