One of the Philippines’ most powerful men has quit an academic post after admitting that an address he delivered plagiarized speeches by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling and US President Barack Obama.
Manuel Pangilinan said he was sorely embarrassed over the March 27 speech and wanted to spare the academic community further criticism by resigning as chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Ateneo de Manila University.
Pangilinan is also the chairman of the country’s leading carrier, the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co and its mobile phone unit Smart Communications. He is one of the country’s richest men and recently gained control of a television station to consolidate his media empire.
Forbes Magazine in 2008 ranked him 39th in its list of 40 richest Filipinos, with a net worth of US$39 million.
Critics have posted on Facebook a side-by-side comparison of Pangilinan’s speech and those made by Briton Rowling and Obama, highlighting the striking similarities.
Rowling wrote seven hugely popular Harry Potter books about the adventures of a boy wizard, which have sold hundreds of millions of copies worldwide and have been made into blockbuster movies.
Some commented that blame should be placed on Pangilinan’s speech writer, while others questioned why he didn’t see the similarities beforehand.
“I had taken a look at the side-by-side comparison [on] Facebook, and must admit to this mistake,” Pangilinan said in a letter posted on the university Web site yesterday. “I have had some help in drafting my remarks, but I take full and sole responsibility for them.”
“It gives me a lot of personal discomfort to continue to be closely involved with Ateneo affairs after this incident,” he said.
“I am afraid the damage has been done — I really do not have a face to show for after this,” he said.
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