Owner of stolen photo: Let’s move on

MANILA, Philippines - The owner of the photo that was lifted and entered by graduate student Mark Joseph Solis in a competition accepted the apology of his mother and urged the public to now move on.

“Good people, let’s move on now, because justice has already been done. We don’t want a tragedy worse than what we already have,” Brazil-based social entrepreneur and Children at Risk Foundation founder Gregory John Smith said on his Facebook page on Thursday.

“That young man needs to move on too, change his attitudes and redirect himself on the right pathway to success, which we all know is only possible through honest and hard labor, something Mark Solis will obviously have to learn along the way, because there is no other way,” he added.

Smith said while the words of Solis made no impact on him, the simple and short statement of Solis’ mother Amelia reminded him of who he is and what he represents in this world.

“I would have honestly wished to be beside her in that exact moment to share and comfort her in this sad moment of deception,” said Smith, referring to the plea of Solis’ mom to him in a GMA News report.

“It takes courage for a mother to speak out the way she did and I have immense respect for such people, no matter who she is trying to defend, because I have met them all here in Brazil before; mothers of killers, rapists, kidnappers and thieves,” he said.