And You Call Yourself An SC Judge?

This made me barf. Well, almost.

In an article by Jay Ruiz, the journalist wrote the next chapter of the drama surrounding the SC Justice, Mariano del Castillo, or better known as "The Plagiarizing Judge". He mentioned Atty. Louie Oximer, lawyer of del Castillo, as saying that "plagiarism is not a high crime, is not bribery or treason and is not culpable violation of the Constitution. Therefore, it cannot be an impeachable offense."

Just to put this in context, del Castillo is involved in an impeachment complaint which alleges that he, in his capacity as the ponente, had plagiarized parts of the decision in the Vinuya case (For more details, visit this link).

As for my humble opinion, I don't care if plagiarizing is impeachable or not. It's simply wrong. And I believe, if you are a Supreme Court Justice, then you are supposed to uphold the highest standard of ethical judgment and moral character. The moment you fail to meet this standard, you are no longer fit to be part of the court. Enough said.

Contrast this to a similar case of plagiarism several years back. Manuel V. Pangilinan, after having been accused of plagiarism, immediately offered his resignation as chairman of the Board of Trustees of ADMU. It didn't matter that his staff were the ones who plagiarized the content of his speeches; he took everything as his own mistake. He took full responsibility for the debacle and pretty much showed the world what he was really made of.

For del Castillo, he has also shown the world who he really is and it is not pretty. Even after countless evidence of him copying verbatim from numerous sources without citing their authors, Del Castillo has refused to step down and resign as an SC justice.

To Atty. Oximer: The question never was if plagiarism is impeachable or not. The question was always if Del Castillo had failed and betrayed us, the Filipino people, through his repeated acts of wanton plagiarism. He has. He has to step down.

Pero baga siya ug nahung kay naa pa gyapun siya sa iyang trono.