Plagiarism was betrayal of public trust twice over

Our clients, the “comfort women,” are grateful to the House of Representatives’ committee on justice for showing that the legislature will not stand for dereliction of duty and betrayal of public trust committed by members of the Supreme Court. The impeachment complaint lodged against Justice Mariano del Castillo involves a plagiarized and twisted decision denying a legal remedy to those who were raped by Japanese soldiers during World War II. Denial of a legal remedy through plagiarism and misrepresentation is betrayal of public trust.

Plagiarism being an incident of intellectual sloth is dereliction of duty. When it also involves misrepresentation, such as when ideas copied from others are twisted to suit a contrary opinion, that is tantamount to betrayal of public trust twice over.

—AILEEN R. GARCIA, program officer,

Center for International Law, Philippines (CenterLaw), aileensr@gmail.com