Vice President Sara Duterte denied outright allegations of plagiarism against her children’s book “Isang Kaibigan” (A Friend), which has a P10-million allocation in the proposed budget of the Office of the Vice President (OVP).
On Wednesday evening, Duterte released a statement defending her work, emphasizing that the real issue is not the book itself but the declining reading skills among the youth.
“It is easy to write a short story based on one’s own experience that copying is unnecessary. The project is to encourage the youth to develop a love of reading and write their own stories,” she said in Tagalog.
“Hindi ang libro ang problema ng bayan kundi ang kahinaan sa pagbabasa ng ating kabataan (The book is not the problem of our nation, but the declining reading skills of our youth),” the Vice President added in her statement.
Duterte also hinted at releasing another book with a different theme and a loaded statement. “Watch out for the next book I’m going to write, which is about the betrayal of a friend,” she said.
Earlier, OVP spokesperson Michael Poa said the book was not plagiarized and holds a copyright registration since 2023. “Mayroon pong copyright registration ang ‘Isang Kaibigan.’ The book has been registered since December 2023,” he told the media.
The statement was in direct response to insinuations of plagiarism, particularly from Carlos Palanca Memorial Award winner and journalist Ninotchka Rosca, who criticized “Isang Kaibigan” by drawing parallels to “Owly: Just a Little Blue” by American writer Andy Runton.
‘Isang Kaibigan’ tells the story of an owl who is left behind by all his friends except for one, his “true friend,” who remains by his side in his time of need. Runton’s book, which was published in 2005, has the same plot.
The final page of Duterte’s book described her as “isang tunay na kaibigan” (a true friend).
Aside from copyright concerns, there are also criticisms regarding the allocation of P10 million for the distribution of the book. Critics questioned the necessity of such a large budget and argued that the inclusion of the Vice President’s image represents a “political” move.
Former spokesperson for VP Leni Robredo, Barry Gutierrez, took to social media to highlight a key difference between VP Leni’s children’s book Dancing Waters by Yvette Fernandez, published by Adarna, and VP Sara Duterte’s book.
Gutierrez emphasized that while Robredo also has a children’s book, she did not request a P10 million budget for it.
“Libro mo, buwis namin ang ipambibili? Hindi lang ‘yan pamumulitika; kundi korapsyon (It is your book, yet we have to pay for it with our taxes? It’s not just politicking, but corruption),” Gutierrez said, criticizing the incumbent Vice President.
