Plagiarism and, uh, Karen Davila? Is that you?!
Photo Credits: Here
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 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
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 eleksiyon, inilunsd nina Cory Aquino at Doy Laurel ang civil disobedience campaign, Himinok ang taong bayan na huwag magbayad ng koryente, tubig, at iboykot ang media, bangko at iba pang kompanyang pagaari ng mga tuta ni Marcos. Marami ang sumangayon 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.
page 42 paragraph 2
Wala pang isang linggo mula nang unang manawagan ng boykot si Cory…
page 41 paragraph 1
Nataranta ang malalaking negosyante, gayon din ang multinationals …
II
DAVILA
(022) Kakaiba na noon ang ihip ng hangin. Palaban na ang taong bayan, sabik sa pagbabago at may natatanaw nang pagasa, salamat sa biyuda ng isang tao …
HIMAGSIKAN page 42 last paragraph
Salamat sa biyuda ni Ninoy, kakaiba na noon ang ihip ng hangin. Mapanghimagsik na ang timpla ng taong-bayan, punong-puno bigla ng pag-asa, sabik sa mga naamoy na pagbabago, noong bisperas ng EDSA.
III
DAVILA
(063) Naghudyat si Ver ng all out attack sa riot police, sa marine artillery, sa mga helicopter gunship, at mga jet bomber.
(067) Naririnig din si Marcos sa radyo. Isinusumpang lilipulin ang mga rebelde.
HIMAGSIKAN page 135 paragraph 2
Sa Fort Bonifacio, naghudyat sina Ver at Ramas ng all-out attack sa riot police, sa Marine artillery, sa mga helicopter gunship, at sa mga jet bomber. Naririnig si Marcos sa radyo, isinusumpang lilipulin ang mga rebelde.
IV
DAVILA
(070) Pumosisyon ang mga sundalo at nagkasahan ng mga baril. Subalit walang atakeng nangyari. Lumapag ang mga chopper sa Crame. Isa-isang lumabas ang mga pilot, may hawak na mga puting bandila at naglalaban sign.
HIMAGSIKAN page 138 paragraph 4
Napakagat ng labi ang mga sundalo, nagkasahan ng mga baril, pumosisyon.
page 139 from last paragraph page 138
Isa-isang lumalabas ang mga piloto, may hawak na mga puting bandila at nagla-Laban sign.
V
DAVILA
(076) Ala singko ng hapon, sa kabila ng banta sa kanyang seguridad sumaglit sa EDSA si Cory …
(081) Sa main entrance ng Philippine Overseas Amployment agency o POEA building nagbigay siya ng maikling talumpati sa mga taong nagtipon sa kantong iyon ng Ortigas at EDSA. Pinuri ni Cory ang mapayapang pagkilos ng mga tao…
HIMAGSIKAN page 165 paragraph 1
Bandang 5:00 ng hapon, nagpakita sa wakas sa EDSA/Ortigas si Cory Aquino, na Sabado pa ay hinahanap na ng mga Coryista. Sa main entrance ng Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA) building, sa kanto ng EDSA at Ortigas, siya dumaan kasama ang kanyang pamilya at mga tagapagtaguyod.
paragraph 5
Sa kanyang talumpati sa mga taong nagtipon sa kantong iyon ng Ortigas at EDSA, pinuri ni Cory ang mapayapang pagkilos ng mga tao …
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. 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?
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 
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angela is a freelance writer who has written for all media -- print, television, documentary film, stage, and now the internet. A sometime astrologer for family and friends, she has an abiding interest in psychology which she studied at the U.P. She has authored two books on the EDSA revolution -- Chronology of a Revolution 1986 published in 1996 and Himagsikan sa EDSA--Walang Himala! in 2000 by the Foundation for Worldwide People Power. She blogs @ www.stuartsantiago.com
tsk tsk tsk, nakakalungkot naman, pinaghirapan mo tapos niluluto ng iba.
what do you expect sa kanila? WALA. basta makabalita lang ang gustong mangyari. ugh.
btw hot pala si davila -evil grin-
Whoa! I am sorry to hear this Ms. Angela. I couldn’t imagine a “respected” anchor would do this. Much so an organization that so many people in our country look up to.
I certainly hope they do something about this boo-boo.
the should’ve cited your Himagsikan Ms Angela, as their source. Akala siguro nila walang makakapansin.
Sino po ba ang writer? Maaaring she just read it aloud herself. Unless she wrote, produced and broadcast that documentary. Haaay! Dapat mabulabog dito ang ABS-CBN
Ganun ba yung “kapamilya” network? tsk! tsk! so bad.
Omigod. Maybe they thought they can get away with this. Perhaps ginawa na nila ito in the past at walang nakapansin/nagreklamo. Tsk tsk. Bad Karen! Bad ABSCBN!
Lagi naman nila ginagawa yan e, kung makakalusot, lusot.. wala ng research research, halimbawa na lang ung MKK ni Angel…at malamanghindi ito ang unang beses na ginawa nila ito, napaisip tuloy ako, kanino kayang libro ang nilapastangan nila noon gumawa sila ng documentary kay Ninoy last year.. hmmm
Make or Break
PLAGIARICEEEEEEE!!!
Errr
Plagiarism to the highest power talaga ang ABS. Naka, madam Angela, as a writer tapos ikaw ang original source nyan then hindi nila-sina-cite ang sources nila, nakakagigil at nakakasakit yan. Ugh.
@Silver
Kawawa naman yung mga original writers no?..tsk..tsk..Kunsabagay, marami naman ganyan talaga lalayo pa tayo. I-copyscape mo makikita mo ang evidence.
@Snow,
OO. Yung mga nahuleng nikokopya! At nahule sa Copyscape. Then legit blogs daw?? Sino kaya yun? LOL.
I guess this is really one boon of the information culture that we are in – we are forced-fed to be honest down our throat at kung hindi, naku, ewan ko na lang. Hindi ko makakalimutan ang mga plagiarism techniques ni Bluep, lalo na yung ingenuity nya with Copyscape. Napahanga mo talaga ako dun Bluep sa investigavie blogging mo.
Let Karen apologize and acknowledge her real sources. Ang Inquirer, kaka-sorry lang kasi ginawa ba namang facts ang intellectual exercise at gawa-gawang listahan ng Le Cirque menu ni MLQ3 sa kanyang blog hehe.
Dfish,
Nakita mo ba kung magkano ang presyo ng shoktong, chicharon at balot dun sa resibo? I would like to order one from Le Cirque.
At kiver ko kung nababagalan si Lito Lapid sa serbisyu nila dun. Palibhasa kasi sanay sa jollijeep, aristocart at point-point.
For a moment, akala ko estudyante ni Jena Isle hahahaha! Plagia-rice! Litsi oo!
Ano ba to? uso ba tlaga ang Plagiarism?
angela,
this is what i have been fighting ever since… plagiarism. Some people think that plagiarism is just copying the article verbatim or putting footnotes and references will absolve the plagiarist from the wrongoing. It is not. Copying the main thought of the article by removing some words and retaining the keywords is also a form of plagiarism.
If it is Davila’s staff who committed the plagiarism, she is still bound to investigate and make the retribution. As the boss, she should not tolerate that kind of breach of journalistic ethics and or copyright infringement.
You ask what next?
When my webmaster’s work was used by the PCIJ in their book, I wrote Sheila Coronel. I made her understand that the permission given by the webmaster was for online publication only and not for the book where there is already profit involved. Yes, they thought that the young man will simply keep mum about it. And yes, he wrote to complain but there was no response although SC claimed that she must have missed the letter from among hundreds that she received. Explanation accepted.
She responded to my blog but it took a long time before the corrections were made and yes, my webmaster got some free copies of the books.
Will dinner in Le Cirque assuage your hurt feelings? Walang press release and publication of the theoretical itemization of the restobill. hehehe
I read from PEP article about this Karen Davila issue.
(http://www.pep.ph/news/22804/Writer-accuses-Karen-Davila-of-plagiarism). It’s clearly plagiarism, no doubt about it! Grabe, nakaka hiya naman sila… I can’t wait how abs-cbn will air their side.
salamat ng marami, pipol. sorry ngayon lang nakapasok sa barrio, grabe ang checkpoints haha. update lang. this morning i received an email from maria ressa saying that they don’t condone plagiarism in any way, and that she has started an investigation.
Congrats to Barrio Siete and Angela. Naunahan lang ako but your story was picked up by http://www.pep.ph/news/22804/Writer-accuses-Karen-Davila-of-plagiarism
what do you expect with a tv network such as ABS-CBN who cant think of anything but only their profit… di ba??? halos lahat ata eh pineperahan nila… even the death of a former president di ba?? yung isang article dito sa BARRIO about the pay per view ng live streaming ng funeral ni tita cory… tama ba?? ah basta i read one article tungkol sa live coverage ng burol ni tita cory na pineperahan ng abs… why do they have to do that?? i mean isnt it enough na sila na nga ang pinaka malaki at no.1 tv station sa phil… tsk tsk and now kung ano ano nanamang issue ang lumalabas… basta ako i have only one thing in my mind na ABS-CBN journalists are nothing compare sa GMA journalists… GMA talaga ang no.1 when it comes sa news and public affairs.. di ba they also have the no.1 documentary films here in the phil??? i-witness etc… plus the fact na they also have the most powerful personlities such as MIKE ENRIQUEZ, MEL TIANCO, and most especially my beloved JESSICA SOHO plus the different personlities behind the GMA news and public affairs!!! THEY ROCK… hehehe
~this is only my personal oppinion~
thanks again, peeps (ika nga ni silver
the case is now in the hands of my lawyer.
hahahaha! ang galing mag paraphrase ni Karen Davila ah.. Mahusay.. mahusay…
tsk tsk tsk!!! walang talagaang tatalo sa tropang i witness wuhuuuu mga taga ch 2 talaga kundi mga tamad mga nangagaya…. hmmmm sakit kaya nila yun sa station nila??
well wala pa ring tatalo sa bongang pag kakabato ng sapatos ni binibining K (anchor din ng ch2 yan)sa driver nia with matching mura to the 11th power!!!
super shock talaga aku when i saw it…..