Universities can dismiss professors for plagiarism

Plagiarism is the highest form of dishonesty because it is stealing the intellectual property of an author. It is an intentional infringement of copyright, claiming credit for the product of another's mind. In the academe it is reprehensible because it sets a very bad example to students. In the case of the University of the East versus (name withheld), GR 226727, the Supreme Court on April 25, 2018, upheld the decision of the university (where I have been teaching Law since 1987) for dismissing some professors who allegedly copied foreign manuals and passed them off as their own. For details of the case, you may Google it anytime. This is a public document and we have the right to discuss it in this forum.

When an academic institution like UE, one of the biggest and most respected nationwide, decides to fire a faculty member because of plagiarism, it enjoys the support of the Supreme Court. Plagiarism partakes of the nature of serious misconduct because it is a willful transgression of a well-settled rule. It is committed with deliberate intent, full consent of the will and foreknowledge that it is an evil by itself. There is no excuse for plagiarism. It is a just and reasonable ground for losing trust and confidence, and its commission makes the perpetrator unworthy to continue being employed by the academic institution.

If a school is justified in firing a clerk who falsifies a receipt in liquidating cash advances involving a measly amount, all the more reason it is justified in dismissing professors found guilty of plagiarism. The school is a very important institution in any human society because it molds the character and intellect of future leaders. Its business is not planting or selling bananas or camote (no offense intended to our farmers) but persons being prepared for greater responsibilities in the community and nation. Therefore, the Supreme Court expressed its exasperation with teachers who seem to be oblivious of the tremendous responsibilities entrusted to them.

I have been a teacher in the undergraduate since 1969 and Law professor since 1977. I understand the burden of being a faculty. I accept the proposition that teachers are overworked but underpaid. In the Middle East and Europe the teachers' lowest pay is no less than P200,000 a month. But being paid a pittance is no excuse for plagiarism. We need to set examples to students and lead by example. Teachers must be good models. There are cases, however, reaching the Supreme Court involving teachers who sell test questions, tutor their own pupils for a fee, manipulate grades for money or malice, and even commit seduction, rape, and sexual harassment against their students. These are unforgivable offenses. The Manual of Regulations for Private Schools and the Labor Code consider them as just causes to terminate employment.

Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle were all teachers. Even Mohammad and Jesus Christ were teachers. Plagiarism is a devilish desecration of their noble examples. If one claims authorship of an intellectual property belonging to another, and does it under the portals of an academic institution, he shall have inflicted on himself the lowest form of malady deserving of condemnation by all.