Sara’s book plagiarized? Risa to block P10 million budget

MANILA, Philippines — Social media and online forums were abuzz yesterday after claims circulated that the picture book authored by Vice President Sara Duterte bore strong similarities to the story in a children’s book written by an American author.

Following the heated argument between Duterte and Sen. Risa Hontiveros over the proposed P10-million budget for the printing of Duterte’s book “Isang Kaibigan,” renowned author Ninotchka Rosca posted the cover of the children’s book “Owly: Just a Little Blue” written by Andy Runton.

Rosca captioned the post with the book’s description: “Owly Just a Little Blue is the second book in the graphic novel Owly series by Andy Runton. Owly discovers a new bluebird and decides to build a home to help it. It’s not an easy task to build or to make friends with the new bird family. But, Owly is determined and kind.”

“Ay, natawa ako (I laughed),” she added, as Rosca’s post fueled allegations that Duterte’s book was plagiarized.

But the OVP, through its spokesman Michael Poa, completely denied that Duterte’s book was plagiarized.

“The book has a copyright registration and it has been registered since December 2023,” Poa told reporters.

Launched in November 2023, “Isang Kaibigan” is a 16-page picture book that tells the story of friendship between an owl and a parrot. The owl helps the parrot rebuild its nest after it is damaged by a storm.

Meanwhile, “Owly: Just a Little Blue” follows the story of an owl and a worm as they help build a home for a bluebird family living in a damaged tree.

Poa, in a radio interview, said the requested budget of P10 million will cover the printing of additional copies of the book.

The estimated cost of printing per copy is P50, so the budget can cover around 200,000 copies that will be distributed to public school students, he said.

Poa also denied that the Vice President is engaging in early campaigning with the distribution of the picture books.

On “Storycon” on One News, publisher Andrea Pasion-Flores, owner of Milflores Publishing Inc., noted that the intent of Duterte’s book is for it to be read along with an adult.

“It’s a children’s story, for sure, it’s short enough for a young child to