The controversial Manny Pangilinan speaks at the FEU graduation rites

“Nineteen days ago, I experienced a similar crash - a verbal malfunction, a speech defect - I know I have to redeem myself from that acute moment of mistaken embarrassment.”

                   -Manny Pangilinan, 82nd FEU Commencement Exercises  
                                                                                               April 15, 2010

Businessman (PLDT Chairman, owner of TV 5 and Smart Telecommunications) Manny V. Pangilinan, known to others as ‘MVP’ was recently involved in a plagiarism issue when he delivered a speech three weeks ago, similar to graduation speeches of US President Barack Obama, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, Oprah Winfrey and Conan O’Brien  as his commencement address to the Ateneo de Manila University graduates. But while the issue has not subsided thus far, he delivered yet another speech this time at  the Far Eastern University’s  82nd commencement exercises, held at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay, Thursday.

A Brief timeline

In a letter to Ateneo President, Ben Nebres – which was published on the Ateneo Website, Pangilinan admitted of borrowing certain other graduation speeches in his own speech during the Ateneo graduation, that he have had some help in the drafting of the remarks, but he takes the full and sole responsibility for them.  In mitigation of the wrongdoing, he said that “the body and substance of my speech represented my own story and my thoughts.  And I have labored long hours to get those speeches done.  It is my hope that their impact has not been lost on the graduates.” MVP offered to resign from his official duties at the Ateneo but the school’s board of trustees declined his resignation as its chair and that the board expressed its full confidence on Pangilinan’s leadership.

 

In his FEU commencement speech (full video below), Pangilinan conceded that he will be  less than honest, if  he did not acknowledge the controversy which has casts a shadow on his presence. He  originally wanted to decline the offer for him to speak at the rites and suggested to find a replacement speaker, but FEU President Dr. Lydia Echauz (a businesswoman herself) disagreed and encouraged Pangilinan to press on with the engagement.

During his speech, Pangilinan drew applause from the FEU community by offering to donate an endowment in honor of his late father, who was once a student of the university. The most part of his speech centered on his humble beginning – the success and failure – success which, according to him is no magic, no mystery and has no secret recipe, success are from old-fashioned values as basic as being honest and truthful,  most of all success which is about passion to succeed, for excellence and passion to compete. Meanwhile, he speaks of failure as that by which may be planted to the very fruit of success, but there will never be a success without taking risks: boldness over safety, excellence not to jeopardy and the strenuous life not the easy existence.

FEU conferred to the business tycoon a honorary doctorate
(Photo from right: FEU Board of Trustees Chair, Dr. Lourdes Montinola;

Manny V. Pangilinan and FEU President Dr. Lydia Echauz) 

A day after this FEU speech, however, a report published by the Inquirer, states that a group including faculty members of Ateneo has objected to the decision of its board of trustees to reject the offer of MVP to retire as board chair in connection with charges of plagiarism. In a manifesto, the signatories maintained that, “Having taken such responsibility, he (Pangilinan) bears the sole burden of accountability, It would present an awfully awkward situation and a tremendous distraction to have memories of a plagiarized speech overshadowing these ceremonies because of the presence (or absence) of Mr. Pangilinan.” The signatories said, accepting Pangilinan’s offer to retire would have allowed him and the Ateneo to move on from the unfortunate incident. “Not accepting his offer to retire, on the other hand, seriously undermines the academic integrity of the Ateneo de Manila University,” they added. Pangilinan, on the other hand, said he had yet to decide whether he would stay on at his post at the Ateneo despite the board’s decision.

Prior to Pangilinan’s FEU Commencement Speech and while still reeling from the plagiarism incident, a researcher-blogger in the name of Katrina Stuart Santiago revealed that  MVP, or at the very least, his speechwriters have been plagiarizing speeches since the year 2007. Santiago posted four allegedly plagiarized speeches that MVP had delivered in the past, to wit: at the Ateneo Family Congress 2009,  The opening of the new Ateneo library 2010, Post-Ondoy speech on corporate social responsibility 2009 and at the Commencement speech in Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan 2007. Santiago posited that, “the hypocrisy, I’m told, comes from my own personal knowledge of how plagiarism happens all the time, in the academe in particular, maybe within the walls of the institutions that I have served as student/researcher/writer in U.P. Diliman, and teacher/writer in the AdMU. hypocrisy has to do with this: to make MVP resign, tell him at this point to leave Ateneo, is to pretend that we — the academic community — are clean”.

Excerpt from MVP's post-Ondoy speech.
Barack Obama: “From the streets of New Orleans to the Mississippi Coast, folks are beginning the next chapter in their American stories. And together, we can ensure that the legacy of a terrible storm is a country that is safer and more prepared for the challenges that may come.”

Manny Pangilinan: “From the streets of Marikina to the flooded plains of Pangasinan, Filipinos should write the next chapter in their stories. Together, we should ensure that the legacy of a terrible storm is a country that is safer, and better prepared, for the tragedies that may come. That’s what CSR is all about.”

“I beg to disagree. I don’t understand why we can’t work from the big fish that’s caught and let the smaller fish freak out and come out, of their own volition, about their own intellectual dishonesties.” said Santiago.

UPDATE 1 : Pangilinan tenders irrevocable resignation from the Ateneo board.

UPDATE 2: MVP donated 5 million pesos to Far Eastern University.

For the details of MVP FEU Speech watch the embedded video below.

Part 1

Part 2