The Legislative Branch of Government

[3cr]

The other sins of Senator Vicente Sotto III
by Sylvia Estrada Claudio
Rappler.com
http://www.rappler.com/thought-leade...-vicente-sotto

You have to have been living under a rock if you are not yet aware of the plagiarism perpetuated by Senator Sotto in his turno en contra speeches against the reproductive health bill. A colleague, Alfredo Melgar, was first to discover that in his first speech, Sotto had plagiarized a US blogger named Sarah Pope.

Shortly after, literary notable Miguel Syjuco revealed that 4 other bloggers had also been plagiarized in the second speech.

But the original “theft,” as Ms. Pope would later call it, was not the end of the perfidy. In the morning of August 16, Sotto denied the plagiarism on national TV. Before the day ended, Sotto's chief of staff admitted the plagiarism.

The details of the missteps, however, show the whole sorry mess of Senator Sotto's “style” in legislative work -- including the kind of people he employs.

In denying his plagiarism, Senator Sotto puts forward the most outrageous ideas about proper attribution. He also ends up painting a whole class of people in a negative light. Sotto claims that he did not plagiarize anyone because he had made a blanket disclaimer that the ideas he presented were taken from other experts. He also said that blogs could not be plagiarized because they were not important as sources of data.

Given his extensive plagiarism of blogs, his statements were disingenuous at best. His idea that a blanket disclaimer was sufficient caused many of my colleagues in the academe to go into fits. Students who plagiarize from reputable scientific sources get failed in any self-respecting institution of higher learning. Students who misrepresent blogs as scientific research also get severe reprimands. I do not know what is to be done with someone who does both—plagiarize and misrepresent.

As the firestorm developed even further, Sotto stated that he could not be legally liable because of parliamentary immunity. Prior to his first speech, anticipating that what Sotto would say would be morally indefensible and possibly libelous, I had tweeted a challenge to him to strip himself of immunity and face the consequences. His retreat into the protection of immunity, as another tweeter noted, does not make him less of a liar and a thief.

The way in which his plagiarism was finally admitted is a story in itself.

As I monitored the news over the controversy, someone sent me a link to the “apology” of Sotto's COS, Mr. Villacorta, to Sarah Pope. The apology made me cringe. I can only describe it as one of the most arrogant non-apologies I have seen. It was also an attempt to take the blame for Sotto by saying it was his staff that lifted from her blog and not the senator himself. Villacorta then implied that Pope was unfair in putting the blame on Sotto for the mistakes made by his staff.

In so doing, Villacorta accused Pope of persecuting Sotto. As if this were not enough, he appealed to her to join them in their fight for the unborn, turning the apology both into an accusation and a political diatribe. Part of the bad taste of this was that Mr Villacorta implied that he and Sotto could speak for the unborn, “all the unborn wants very much the right to be born and they need everybody's help.” That the apology was written in bad English did not help.

One of the keys to national progress is to increase our people's scientific literacy. Apparently we have failed so badly that a senator and his staff do not know the difference between evidence-based scientific arguments and the chicanery they have managed to put together.

The scientific arguments regarding contraceptives, abortion, sexuality education, etc., have already been repeatedly discussed in the course of the debate on the RH bill. I have no intention of reiterating them because no amount of repetition seems to make a dent in the minds of people like Senator Sotto.

The real problem here is that they can't discern what good science is and therefore tend to believe the gunk they come up with.

And how do I know this is gunk? Sit back, dear reader, and note the tell tale signs of folly:

1) Citing outdated studies a.k.a Rip Van Winkle Does Science

When Sotto does cite his sources instead of plagiarizing them, we note that they are at least 30 years old. In his first speech, which can be accessed at the Senate website, he mentions only 3 books, one dated 1975 and the two others, 1974. His second speech does not mention the dates of any of the sources he cites to bolster his case. Where dates are mentioned, it is of UN documents he wishes to criticize.

Why do we teachers insist that this is a sign of possible chicanery? Because scientific knowledge is continually evolving, renewed and revised. To claim that something believed more than 30 years ago would still be true now, must raise some red flags. While it is true that this may be possible, it is unlikely.

In fact the claim that Sotto makes, which he supports by these books from the 1970s, is that, “Individual human life begins at conception and is progressive, ongoing continuum until natural death. This is a fact so well established that no intellectually honest physician in full command of modern medical knowledge would dare to deny it.”

That claim is false.

Current medical text books do not support this view and neither do a majority of physicans. Indeed, even in the 1970s, it was by no means the dominant position.

In 1976, Theodosius Dobzhansky, geneticist and evolutionary biologist, commenting on the question about when life begins observed, "The wish felt by many people to pinpoint such a stage probably stems from the belief that a soul, conceived as a preternatural entity, descends upon a formerly soulless living stuff, and suddenly transforms the latter into human estate. I hope that modern theologians can accept the idea that the transformation is not sudden, but gradual.”

2) Citing extremists, outliers and unproven claims a.k.a. Crackpot Alert!

Why do I claim that the mainstream of medical opinion does not support this view? Simple. I listen to reputable scientific organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO). I invite anyone out there who still believes in the disinformation against the RH bill, to visit the WHO website.

Why should I believe the WHO? Well, it has not been perfect. No human institution is. But its opinions are based on the exhaustive reviews by panels of experts of the research available. In any area of science, there will always be contradictory studies (like those of Dr Natasha Campbell McBride which Sotto cites).

The role of reputable scientists is to see the whole of the data and disregard those that are contradictory to the majority because the claims are not backed by reputable research (this is the case in Dr McBride's theories) or are just contradicted by more researches. Usually, well-run studies that contradict the majority are pointed out in the reputable literature.

To take the outlier study or the crackpot's views and to claim that this is scientific proof is, in my mind, even more egregious than an outright lie.

3) Misrepresentation a.k.a. LIAR, LIAR!

Sotto misrepresents studies or quotes them out of context. I get the impression that he and his staff really don't read what they quote or they are deliberately distorting the findings. Again I will give just one example.

In his speech he says this, “The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of the World Health Organization (WHO) announced on July 29, 2005 that after a thorough review of the published scientific literature, it has concluded that combined estrogen-progestogen oral contraceptives (and combined estrogen-progestogen menopausal therapy) are carcinogenic to humans (Group 1 category. This category is used when there is sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in humans.).”

First, the date of the study is wrong. The study was conducted in 1999.

Secondly, he misrepresents what the study is saying. Here is the full statement of the study seen in page 294 of the monograph: “Combined oral contraceptives are carcinogenic to humans (Group 1). There is also conclusive evidence that these agents have a protective effect against cancers of the ovary and the endometrium.”

On page 293 the monograph notes that the basis for saying combined oral contraceptives cause cancer is that there is sufficient evidence that high dose preparations cause hepatocellular cancer. I have italicized the term high dose because the currently available preparations are not high dose preparations.

4) Inacuracies a.k.a. LIAR, LIAR, LIAR

Sotto has too many inaccuracies. I shall add only one more example here having noted his inaccuracies over the IARC monograph.

The pill Diane, which he claims his wife was taking when she got pregnant in 1975, was only available in 1978, as shown in the website entry of Bayer.

5) Ignorance of statistical reasoning a.k.a. Really? You Studied in Harvard?

In his second speech he says this: "Kung tutuusin sa pinagawa ko sa mga staff ko, hindi pa nga umabot man lang sa kalahati ng 11 maternal deaths ang nakalap nila sa mga hospitals sa Pilipinas nung 2011 eh. For example, sa Nueva Viscaya Provincial Hospital, ang maternal deaths na naitala nila ay 2 lamang sa 2011. Let me emphasize, this is for the entire year of 2011, hindi po ito kada-araw. Sa Pangasinan Provincial Hospital, 4 lamang ang naitalang namatay sa panganganak sa nakaraang taon. Sa Batangas Regional Hospital, 7 out of 2584 deliveries ang naitala .27%. Hindi pa nga umabot sa 1%. Sa Cavite Naval Hospital, wala silang naitala na namatay sa panganganak sa taong 2011. Kaya ang hirap paniwalaan ang kanilang figure na 11 mothers die every day."

Extrapolating Sotto's numbers to a nationwide count would show that 18 mothers die a day. According to Likhaan, one of the NGOs he maligned, “Sotto failed to grasp that a small number – such as the 0.27% he calculated for Batangas and belittled – becomes large when multiplied by a huge number like the millions of births per year. If we assume that the Batangas data can be applied to all births in the country in 2011, the national figure becomes 2,385,000 births × 0.27% = 6,461 maternal deaths per year, or nearly 18 per day.”

6. Mistaking temporal contiguity for correlation and correlation as causation a.k.a. Conspiracy Theories and Witch Hunting Are So Dark Ages!

The biggest one is that because certain UN agencies and international NGOs that support reproductive health are concerned with abortion services in OTHER countries, therefore they are using the RH bill as a means to legalize abortion in the Philippines.

In his speech where he accuses my NGO, Likhaan, as pushing abortion, he flashes a few pages of our translation of the book, “Where Women Have No Doctor” from the world renowned publisher the Hesperian Foundation. Of the several hundred pages of that book, he chooses to show those where the book discusses how abortions are done.

Hesperian works with NGOs for translations of its many wonderful books and indeed, we were its partners for the Filipino translation. The translated version is faithful to the English original, because unlike Sotto, we don't censor or mistranslate other people's material. Also, last I heard, it is not a crime to discuss abortion in the Philippines.

Conspiracy theorists and witch hunters work through innuendos and insinuations. It is very difficult to protect oneself from these accusations because they essentially ask that people think the darkest and worst thoughts of other people.

Sotto is guilty indeed of failures in proper attribution, misrepresentation, logical fallacies and inaccuracies. But these things are the fruit of the lack of discipline in tracking down the real evidence; conceit in refusing to listen to the experts; narrow-mindedness in refusing to accept evidence that is contrary to his beliefs; and the low-mindedness of one who can deal in insinuation and innuendo.

Perhaps Sotto should take a break from legislative work and try to learn basic lessons of scientific reasoning and civility in argumentation. If he does, he is less likely to cause the kind of morbid fascination that we give to train wrecks, when he makes his speeches.

[Nabartek]

Originally Posted by GodIsNotGreat

What can be posited about the trajectories of economies of countries, in that they are difficult to predict, could also be applied to the political landscape of the future. Looking forward four to five decades ahead, we will never know for sure.

You will be amazed at how many and how often Canadian academics and intellectuals are continually harping on the theme of possible rearrangement of the political boundaries of North America.

That's interesting. Maybe it would happen if something big happens (kind of like the trigger)

So, you prefer consolidating with North America than East Asia? Not that it's a bad idea. But I bet your familiar with the typical Asian mentality if one relates more to the non-Asians -- Brown American/Canadian...

[GodIsNotGreat]

It is difficult to tell which directions the geopolitical winds will blow in the future. But there could be vastly different political alliances/mergers/dismemberment of nations decades hence.

The political boundaries of Europe today is different from what it was 100 years ago, which in turn was different from 200 years ago. 500 -1000 years ago most of Europe was just an agglomeration of tribes and city-states. The North and South American continents were native American country up until about 350 years ago.

What does the future hold for the Philippines, say 50 – 75 years from now? Nobody knows.

But I say we throw our lot with the democracies of North America. As a first step we adopt a federal system of government similar in form to Canada or the US. Later on we join either one.

This serves as a thought experiment.

[RonnieR]

Manila to have ‘most modern’ courts at P2B
By Nancy Carvajal
Philippine Daily Inquirer
10:25 pm | Wednesday, August 22nd, 2012

Manila will soon have a new Hall of Justice—“the most modern in the country”—to the tune of P2 billion, according to senior Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio.

The new building, which according to Carpio will house up to 120 court rooms, will rise on the site of the old Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) building on A.J. Villegas Street (formerly Arroceros).

At present, Manila courts are scattered in various buildings near the city hall.

“The (new) Manila Hall of Justice will be the biggest, most modern and best equipped hall of justice in the country, bar none,” Carpio said in a speech Wednesday at the project’s groundbreaking rites. “It will be a hall of justice that the residents of Manila could truly be proud of.”

He said the building could be completed in two to three years, covering an area of 10,818 square meters

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/255836/...-courts-at-p2b

[amigo32]

wow, dyan sila uli magsasayang ng oras sa mamahaling korte

[RonnieR]

Di sinabi ang penalty....

August 23, 2012

Data privacy law signed by Aquino

A PRIORITY measure penalizing the theft, malicious use and unauthorized disclosure of personal information has been signed into law by President Benigno S. C. Aquino III.

Under Republic Act 10173 or the Data Privacy Act, the collection of personal information should be made with clear consent. The data must also only be used for legitimate purposes as determined before it is gathered.

Personal data includes an individual’s race, ethnic origin, marital status, age, affiliations, health, education, and court-related records. It also pertains to tax data, licenses and others as may be specified by the Palace or Congress.

RA 10173 also creates the National Privacy Commission that will enforce the law, receive complaints and set investigations. -- N. M. Gonzales

http://www.bworldonline.com/content....quino&id=57351

[hakz2007]

[amigo32]

malabong maipasa yan, kasi sila mismo mag pasa nyan apektado, kaya WISH ka na lang

[hakz2007]

ayaw din nilang mabisto

[Nabartek]

Originally Posted by RonnieR

Di sinabi ang penalty....

August 23, 2012

Data privacy law signed by Aquino

A PRIORITY measure penalizing the theft, malicious use and unauthorized disclosure of personal information has been signed into law by President Benigno S. C. Aquino III.

Under Republic Act 10173 or the Data Privacy Act, the collection of personal information should be made with clear consent. The data must also only be used for legitimate purposes as determined before it is gathered.

Personal data includes an individual’s race, ethnic origin, marital status, age, affiliations, health, education, and court-related records. It also pertains to tax data, licenses and others as may be specified by the Palace or Congress.

RA 10173 also creates the National Privacy Commission that will enforce the law, receive complaints and set investigations. -- N. M. Gonzales

http://www.bworldonline.com/content....quino&id=57351

I hope this does not include those in office coz we will really need to monitor where they are getting their money

[hakz2007]

Senado ‘nabiyak” sa panukalang hatiin ang CamSur

MISTULANG nabiyak ang Seando sa panukalang hatiin ang lalawigan ng Camarines Sur na pinagtatalunan ng mag-amang sina Camarines Sur Gov. El-Rey Villafuerte at Rep. Luis Villafuerte matapos magtalo sa plenaryo ang dalawang senador.

Sa araw ng paglilibing kay yumaong Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo, nagkaroon naman ng mainitang debate ang ilang senador sa pangunguna ni Senador Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

May panukala ang nakatatandang Villafuerte na hatiin ang CamSur at lumikha ng Nueva Camarines na mahigpit na tinututulan ng ilang senador na kaalyado ni Sen. Manny Villar.

Bukod kasi sa ginawang report ni Senador Miriam Defensor Santiago, chair ng senate committee on constitutional amendments, revision of codes and laws, hinggil sa House Bill No. 4820 ni Rep. Villafuerte na naglalayong likhain ang lalawigan ng Nueva Camarines, may balak naman si Marcos na gumawa ng sariling committee report.

Nais ni Santiago na talakayin na sa plenaryo ng Senado ang kanyang committee report upang mapagbotohan sa mga darating na araw, pero hinarang ito ni Marcos matapos na magpadala ng liham kay Senate Majority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III para ipaalam na maglalabas siya ng report hinggil sa naturang panukala.

Ayon kay Sotto, dahil sa naging desisyon ni Marcos na maglabas ng committee report, awtomatikong itatabi muna ang report ni Santiago.

Pinaliwanag ni Sotto na ang komite ni Marcos ang siyang “lead committee” habang ang komite ni Santiago ang “secondary committee” kung kayat ang lead committee ang bibigyan ng prayoridad kung ano ang rekomendasyon sa panukala sa paghati ng CamSur.

Nilagdaan ng pitong senador ang report ng senate committee on constitutional amendments, revision of codes and laws, hinggil sa House Bill No. 4820 ni Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Villafuerte na naglalayong likhain ang lalawigan ng Nueva Camarines.

Kabilang sa lumagda ay si Senador Miriam Defensor Santiago, chair ng komite at ang vice-chairman nitong si Senador Edgardo Angara, mga miyembrong sina Senador Franklin Drilon, Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, Lito Lapid at ex-officio members na sina Senador Jinggoy Estrada at Vicente “Tito” Sotto III.

Hindi naman lumagda sina Senador Manny Villar, Panfilo Lacson, Marcos Jr., Antonio Trillanes IV, Aquilino Pimentel III at Alan Peter Cayetano.

Nauna nang bumuo ng posisyon ang Nacionalista Party (NP) na kinabibilangan nina Villar, Trillanes, Marcos at Cayetano kontra sa paghati ng Camarines Sur.

Read more

[Nabartek]

hati na nga ang Camarines, hahatiin pa ulit nila? We should be merging instead to reduce cost (read: politician salaries) not creating new ones. We are over saturated with politicians

[wino]

I just don't see the economic advantage of splitting them up...
economically, it should go the other way.. unlike Metro Manila.. it should just be one big city with just one central administration.

instead of making smaller regional economies, the country should promote provinces to have "economies of bigger scales."


what is the purpose really?

[Nabartek]

For a small country, we have too much number of provinces. I guess politicians wants their own "territories". Dapat iniintegrate mismo yung mga magkakapangalan at pinagkaiba yung mga -del/sur, 'del/norte', oriental, occidental. At least kung ganun, mas maypag-asang maredistribute ang mga incomes. Tapos kung puede yung Cordillera gawin ulit isang probinsya. Total, iilan lang naman populasyon nila.

[Lithiumite]

Sotto strikes again!!
Sotto: To Pass the Anti-Discrimination Bill, Discriminate LGBT First

Manila Bulletin reports that certain senators are opposing the Anti-Racial, Ethnic and Anti-Religious Discrimination Act of 2011 (the Anti-Discrimination bill) because they want the provisions concerning the LGBT struck down. Among these senators is our favorite bigote’d senator, the Honorable Vincente Sotto III.

[red_jasper]

New single parent’s bill pushed
Posted by Online on Aug 29th, 2012

***

Last June, the House approved on third and final reading HB 6184 which gives discounts to solo parents.

Once the measure is enacted into law, single parents will enjoy a 15-percent discount on milk and other food supplements, as well as a 10-percent discount on clothes, for their babies until the children are two years old.
Under HB 6184, single parents will get a 15-percent discount on clothes for their children until they are five years old.

Violators of the propose Act, particularly those fraudulently securing the discounts shall pay P10,000 to P50,000 and shall be imprisoned for six months.

Those who fail to give discounts shall pay P10,000 to P50,000 on the first offense. For the second offense, they will be fined P100, 000 to P200,000 and imprisoned for a maximum of two years.

Read more here

[Manila-X]

Maceda, Gordon join UNA senatorial slate; Pimentel drops PDP Laban presidency
By Fat Reyes
INQUIRER.net
11:15 am | Wednesday, August 29th, 2012

MANILA, Philippines—Former Senators Ernesto Maceda and Richard Gordon have been included in the senatorial slate of the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), the coalition’s spokesman said Wednesday.

In a phone interview, JV Bautista, UNA spokesperson, said the two senators had been officially named Tuesday night.

UNA is a coalition of Vice President Jejomar Binay’s Partido Demokratikong Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) and former President Joseph Estrada’s Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP).

Asked about the formal announcement on Senator Loren Legarda’s inclusion in the slate, Bautista said they would be making a high-profile announcement but that “for all intents and purposes, she is already part of the slate.”

Bautista also said that Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel, who made an announcement that he would run as a guest candidate, has taken his leave as president of PDP Laban.

He said Binay, as chairman of PDP Laban, would take over all responsibilities left by Pimentel.

Bautista said that with all the nuances of politics, and with Pimentel running for an opposite party, taking a leave would be the best move.

[Nabartek]

Originally Posted by red_jasper

New single parent’s bill pushed
Posted by Online on Aug 29th, 2012




Read more here

How will establishments know that the buyer is a single parent? Does this apply to a single parents REGARDLESS of sex/gender of is this for female single parents only?

Are they gonna issue a single parent ID or shall the parent always have the birth certificate?

Or is this just a dummy bill since it's election next year?

[jardet]

Originally Posted by Nabartek

For a small country, we have too much number of provinces. I guess politicians wants their own "territories". Dapat iniintegrate mismo yung mga magkakapangalan at pinagkaiba yung mga -del/sur, 'del/norte', oriental, occidental. At least kung ganun, mas maypag-asang maredistribute ang mga incomes. Tapos kung puede yung Cordillera gawin ulit isang probinsya. Total, iilan lang naman populasyon nila.

After so much experiments in the country's political structures, it seems size does not matter anymore. Jesse was correct. Kailangan po natin sa gobyerno ay hindi lamang po 'yong magagaling. Hindi rin lang po dapat matitino. Dapat po ay 'yong matitino at magagaling para ang bansang ito sa umusad patungo sa inaasam natin pagbabago at kaunlaran.

Sa usaping hatian ng Camarines Sur, ito po'y hindi nararapat kung ang dahilang sa ngayo'y ito'y ibinabatay. Dapat po'y palitan ang mga taong namumuno na walang ibang iniisip ay pangsariling kapakanan. Dapat na pong tapusin ang panunungkulan at paghahari-harian ng mga ganid na pamilya ng mga Villafuerte at mga Fuentebella.

[Parchie]

Originally Posted by jardet

After so much experiments in the country's political structures, it seems size does not matter anymore. Jesse was correct. Kailangan po natin sa gobyerno ay hindi lamang po 'yong magagaling. Hindi rin lang po dapat matitino. Dapat po ay 'yong matitino at magagaling para ang bansang ito sa umusad patungo sa inaasam natin pagbabago at kaunlaran.

Sa usaping hatian ng Camarines Sur, ito po'y hindi nararapat kung ang dahilang sa ngayo'y ito'y ibinabatay. Dapat po'y palitan ang mga taong namumuno na walang ibang iniisip ay pangsariling kapakanan. Dapat na pong tapusin ang panunungkulan at paghahari-harian ng mga ganid na pamilya ng mga Villafuerte at mga Fuentebella.

And we get to ponder on those words of a person only when the person is gone, right? The Filipino people still chooses to allow aspirants with questionable qualifications and qualities! All we have to do is cry for another three more years and wish we have been very active in campaigning for who's capable and who's riding on somebody else's wings! So sad!