More on the Philippines Supreme Court Plagiarism Scandal

Even more revelations in the plagiarism scandal that has caused an uproar among the faculty of the University of the Philippines and the Philippines Supreme Court.

MANILA, Philippines – Supreme Court Justice Mariano del Castillo plagiarized at least 20 more times in the decision on the comfort women case (Isabelita Vinuya v. Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo), apart from those already brought to the attention of the Court, according to Peter Payoyo, a former professor of the University of the Philippines College of Law.

In a 16-page letter to Chief Justice Renato Corona dated October 28, 2010, Payoyo, who now resides in the Netherlands, wrote that “beyond any doubt in mind – plagiarism was committed.”

“The Vinuya decision, I am very sorry to say, suffers more referencing irregularities and instances of serious unacknowledged copying than what the Court may perhaps been led to believe,” Payoyo, who holds a doctorate in law, said in his letter that was circulated to  the SC justices two weeks ago.

For more background on this, especially the alleged plagiarism of this article by Evan Criddle and Evan Fox-Descent in the Yale Journal of International Law, featured at Opinio Juris. See here as well for more posts on this topic as well. I admit I haven’t followed it as closely as I should, but it certainly looks like this issue is not going away.