'Plagiarism?': Vice Ganda's 'It's Showtime' monolog compared to Darry Yap's

MANILA, Philippines — A Facebook user noticed the alleged resemblance of Vice Ganda's monolog in "It's Showtime" to Darry Yap's "Buo."

Lolito Go posted on his Facebook account a video of Vice and Darry's monolog. 

"Panoorin nyo nang buo yung side-by-side comparison sa dalawang speeches. Unmistakable yung resemblance ano? Binalasa lang yung mga salita pero almost the same ang thoughts, delivery, pati yung heroic music almost identical," he wrote. 

"Kaya ba 'Vice' lang sya? Pumapangalawa lang, sumesegunda? Hindi magandang pambungad ito para sa historic na pagtawid-bakod ng Showtime sa GMA," he added. 

Lolito said that whoever wrote Vice's monolog can't convince him that they didn't watch Darryl's monolog because it was published in 2020. 

"Kung may writer nga si Vice, maybe it's time to do some auditing. Baka kasi marami nang iba pang ginagaya, nakakalusot lang. Pero kung si Vice mismo ang sumulat nito, I would assume that she secretly admires the work of Darryl. Maybe it's just a case of 'cryptomnesia,'" he said. 

He, however, said that he could not discount coincidence as a possibility. 

"Freak coincidence. However slim the chances are, pwede pa ring nagkataon lang talaga ang lahat. Nagkataon lang na parehas ng content, parehas ng delivery, parehas ng pacing, parehas ng theatrics, parehas ng music. Almost parehas pa nga ng boses eh," he said. 

"Well, marami rin naman talagang pagkakaperahas sina Darryl at Vice. Parehas silang galing sa LGBTQIA community. Parehong nanggaling sa hirap. Parehong mapagmahal sa kaibigan at pamilya. Parehong nakatanggap ng maraming rejections. Parehong witty, funny at gutsy. Parehong opinionated. Parehong kayod kalabaw. (Or kabayo.) Parehong bumangon at nagpakabuo. Parehong nagtagumpay. At baka dahil sa mga pagkakaparehong ito, may tendency rin talaga na iisa lang ang maging tenor ng mga talumpati nila. Iisa ang hugot, iisa ang baon," he added. 

Lolito then answered his own question if it's plagiarism or copyright infringement. 

"Of course not. Hindi naman kopyang kopya ang mga kataga. I wouldn't go as far as accusing Vice Ganda or her writers of plagiarism. Idea or concept lang naman ang ginaya. And I know very well na ideas and concepts are generally not protected by copyright. Copyright protects the specific way an idea is expressed, not the underlying idea itself. This means that two different people can have the same idea, but as long as they independently create their own original expression of that idea, there is no copyright infringement," he said.  

"Wala ngang copyright infringement, walang krimen. But just because it isn't criminal doesn't mean it's not unethical. Unethical pa rin ang mangopya ng idea. Kung manggagaya, magpaalam sa pag-gagayahan. O kaya naman, give proper credits. Ano lang ba yung ilagay na 'inspired by?'" he added. 

Lolito ended his lengthy post with a suggestion that the speech might be Vice and his friend Darryl's collaboration.

Both Vice and Darryl work with talent management agency and film producer Viva.

“It’s Showtime” made another historic milestone, as its debut episode kicked off with an astonishing and jaw-dropping opening number, which trended worldwide and earned 500,000 peak concurrent views today. 

Asia's "Unkabogable" superstar and birthday girl Vice Ganda opened "It's Showtime" with a "Dune" inspired video, which shifted to featuring him sitting atop the GMA logo on the network's main building. He also did another performance as he sang "Thunder," "Champion," and "Hall of Fame."

His co-hosts Anne Curtis, Vhong Navarro, Jhong Hilario, Karylle, Kim Chiu, Ogie Alcasid, Amy Perez,  Darren Espanto, Jugs Jugueta, and Teddy Corpuz, Ryan Bang, Jackie Gonzaga, MC, Lassy, Ion Perez, and Cianne Dominguez  also performed heart-pumping performances for the Kapamilya and Kapuso viewers. 

Vice expressed his gratitude to the ABS-CBN and GMA bosses for continuously giving "It's Showtime" the opportunity to spread happiness and entertainment to more "madlang people." He also added that this was her best birthday celebration, and the continuous collaboration between the two media giants was for the viewers. 

"Ito ay para sa lahat ng Madlang People na mapapasaya namin simula sa araw na ito. Ito ay para sa GMA at sa ABS-CBN, lahat ng mga nagtatrabaho sa 'It's Showtime', lahat ng mga staff natin, napakahuhusay at napakasisipag, at sa ating lahat na mga hosts, sa lahat ng mga kapiling nating mga Kapamilya, mga Kapuso," he said.

Kapuso stars Gabbi Garcia, Sanya Lopez, Glaiza de Castro, Jillian Ward, Mark Bautista, Christian Bautista, Jake Vargas, Mikee Quintos, Nadine Samonte, and Chanty were present to witness the big day on television and the "Karaokids" segment.

Apart from the explosive opening number, the pilot episode on GMA also featured a special episode of "Expecially For You" wherein Miss Universe Philippines 2023 Michelle Dee became a searcher and was joined by her mother, Miss International 1979 Melanie Marquez. 

RELATED: 'Pinakamatinding plot twist': 'It's Showtime' stages explosive number in GMA debut