I was ready to just let the whole Krip Yuson plagiarism issue die down; the man said his piece immediately after I’d brought the issue to fore, and writers from other corners of the Internet came up with thoughtful, well-written pieces on the matter.

But then the Palanca Hall of Famer wrote about the incident this morning in his Philippine Star column, which just about unmasked his earlier apology as disingenuous.

First, he defended the use of Rey Joble’s work in his Rogue magazine article:

I sought to recycle, initially, a few paragraphs from that story and work them into the Rogue piece, as its middle portion. The more I reread what sportswriter Rey Joble had drafted and which I had finalized, the more paragraphs I appropriated. And as I’ve already disclosed to both Howie Severino, EIC of GMAnews Online, and Mari Ugarte, EIC of Rogue, in all truth, the quotation marks and initial attribution to Rey Joble and GMANews Online were dropped, intentionally by me as the marks made the chunk look so clunky. I thought I’d work the credits back in somehow, once I was about to finalize the submission for Rogue. That didn’t happen, and that’s my grievous fault.

If that sounded familiar to you, that’s because it’s almost the same excuse put forth by Supreme Court Associate Justice Mariano Del Castillo when he was charged with plagiarism. Like Del Castillo, Yuson is contending that he never plagiarized – in fact, he describes the incident as an “alleged plagiarism” – and he only failed to give proper attribution to Joble.

Throughout his column, he also tries to lighten the stigma of plagiarism, which he calls “a blooming buzzword in our day and age, here and now” – as if the effort to expose intellectual dishonesty were only some sort of fad.

Then Yuson trots out his sad old line that he felt that he was part-author of the piece, having edited it for GMA News:

I don’t really mean to make light of this matter, especially since an academic case could be made of the issue of whether an editor can lay claim to part ownership of written work, as has been argued about in the past.

This is absolute BULLSHIT from Yuson, one that he’ll unfortunately continue to trot out until someone calls him out on it. An editor has ABSOLUTELY ZERO ownership of the piece he merely edited; NOT ONE SANE PERSON in academe or in professional media would argue otherwise.

So yes, this is me officially calling out Krip Yuson’s bullshit.

But then again, judging by his next parenthetical statement, Yuson seems to think that journalists don’t have rigid morals or scruples when it comes to stealing other people’s work:

(There seems to be a more liberal view of propriety when it comes to journalism; whether that’s correct or not, or good or bad, I myself am in no agreement with either stance, although here I did show myself to be loosely interpretive of copyright.)

“Loosely interpretive of copyright,” in Krip-speak, translates roughly to “I’m too lazy to do the legwork for writing my article so I’ll piggyback on someone else’s reporting and hope no one would find out.”

But we can't exactly blame Yuson for this attitude, because he hardly seems alone in it; he even shares some words of comfort from his friends who are only too happy to condone the fact that he stole someone else’s work and tried to pass it off as his own:

One texted: “Real writers know it was anything but plagiarism. There should be distinctions. For me the word applies only when the copied piece aspires to literary worth not reportorial purpose. Each of those ‘stolen’ texts is more of a PRECIS than anything. You were remiss somewhere else. Some literary swordsman should pick up where you have gone all meek. Alas, I’m known to be your close friend.”

Wow, just… wow. That is some of the most stupid drivel I’ve ever read online, which is saying a lot, because I run a sports blog where fans argue over the dumbest things. On the other hand, though, perhaps some credit must also go to Yuson’s intrepid texter, because that was powerful writing that evoked some very real emotions – in this case, it makes me want to punch someone in the face.

Another FB’d his comment: “It’s nothing serious. In the legal profession we do it all the time, now with even more impunity. Besides, as Pablo Picasso aid, ‘To copy others is necessary, but to copy oneself is pathetic.’”

My, my, aren’t we proud of ourselves?

The sad thing is that a lot of people, myself included, were just willing to let Yuson save face after this whole issue. After all, he’s this respected writer, and didn’t we all read – or at least pretend to read – “The Great Philippine Jungle Energy Café” back in college?

But in this morning’s column, Yuson betrays his contempt for his readers, whom he expects to be stupid enough to buy his insipid arguments. We couldn’t just let Krip Yuson get away with this again, right?

The column reeks of hubris – the arrogance of Yuson getting away with his offense simply because of who he is and what he’s done – the very same hubris that made him think he could get away with plagiarizing Rey Joble’s work for his Rogue Magazine article.

You want some real, non-plagiarized reporting? Here’s some real, non-plagiarized reporting.

When I first called up Rey Joble to inform him about the apparent plagiarism, I asked him if he was going to file a complaint to his boss, GMA News Online editor-in-chief Howie Severino, about the matter. Joble responded in the negative; he said he was apprehensive about speaking up about the issue because he knew that Yuson was good friends with his boss, and that he was afraid that making a bigger deal out of it would jeopardize his career. He was ready to just let it pass if it meant that he could just go on with his job quietly – understandable, in this day and age, when most people, even sportswriters, are just concerned about making sure that there’s food on the table for their families.

He did send me a copy of his original draft, the one that Krip Yuson edited and is now claiming part-ownership for.

I posted it below, in full. Now compare it with the final version that Yuson supposedly “reworked,” and with the controversial Rogue Magazine article. Go, read. And after seeing all these, you tell me: Are you still going to buy the shit that Krip Yuson is selling?

Former PBA commissioner Salud remembered

He was regarded as the man responsible for the revival of the popularity of the Philippine Basketball Association. It was under his watch when the pro league agreed to send the first-ever all-pro national men’s basketball team to the Asian Games and when the Asia’s pioneering pro league institutionalized the annual PBA All-Star Game.

These are some of the significant things to be remembered on former PBA commissioner Rudy Salud, who passed away on Monday due to heart failure.

Multi-titled coaches Yeng Guiao of Rain or Shine, and Tim Cone of Alaska, PBA analyst Andy Jao and long-time sportswriter and now PBA Press Corps president Tito Talao of Tempo recalled Salud’s contributions to the league that was loved and treasured by Filipino basketball fans for the past 36 years.

“It was during the time of Commissioner Salud when I had my coaching debut in the PBA. I was young then. I knew him as a person with strong personality and highly-respected, but he was gentle on me, even if I am a coach with a temper,” Guiao told GMA News in a telephone interview.

From six teams from 1985 to 1989, the PBA made its first move to expand the team membership to eight. Two expansion squads entered the league in 1990, Pepsi Cola and the RFM Group coached by Guiao.

“He has done a lot of things in the league, but more than those things, I will remember Commissioner Salud as the person himself. He’s a commissioner who is very fair, can stand up on the team owners and the owners will accede on his decision or opinion. And without disrespecting the past commissioners of the league, for me, Salud’s qualities make him the best ever commissioner in the PBA,” added Guiao.

Cone is the longest-tenured mentor in the pro league and has won a total of 13 championships to become the second winningest coach in the all-time list. Like Guiao, the American mentor has good things to say on the former commissioner, who served the league as its founding legal counsel, as deputy commissioner of the late Mariano Yenko from 1986-87 and commissioner from 1988 to 1991.

“He was my commissioner 21 years ago. I always remember him to be plain-speaking and straight forward, and he never seemed to have a personal agenda. It was always what’s bets for the league. I liked and respected him greatly. Just like any of the great players, Jaworski, Fernandez, etc., — Rudy Salud was one of the greats. He will be terribly missed,” said Cone in a text message.

Jao remembered the time he worked with Salud in the PBA board during the mid-1980s, but for the former team executive-turned television analysts, the former commissioner should be credited for “bringing life back to a then struggling league.”

“He (Rudy) should be credited for the second coming of popularity in the PBA,” said Jao. “There are several significant things which Salud did in the PBA, one of them is the revival of the public’s interest in the league. Remember, our league was down to six at that time, then came the entry of Purefoods, which forged several rivalries with Ginebra and San Miguel Beer. It was also under Salud when the growth of Alaska took place and of course, the balance of power among teams.”

But Salud, according to Jao, will always find time getting the opinion of others when it comes to deciding on delicate matters.

“Hindi siya takot to get the opinion of others, and that’s the good thing about him,” added Jao, also the current team consultant of Rain or Shine.

Talao has been covering the PBA for more than three decades and was convinced that it was during the time of Salud the league had reached the peak of its popularity after the famed Crispa-Toyota rivalry.

“Who would forget the All-Star game when Mon Fernandez and Robert Jaworski would conspire in the final play? That play completely overshadowed Boy Cabahug’s performance who was then named MVP of the All-Star Game. It was during the time of Salud that the PBA decided to institutionalize the All-Star Game,” said Talao.

The PBA had several All-Star games in its early years, according to basketball historian Jay P. Mercado of Pinoy Exchange and MYPBA sports forums.

“There was this North versus South selection players and there was this All-Star Game, which features selected PBA players and imports like Larry McNeil and Dean Tolson of St. George/Gilbey’s Gin, Larry Pounds of Royal Tru-Orange, and Cyrus Mann of Crispa going up against the visiting NBA team Washington Bullets. There was also this exhibition games in the league’s early years when a barnstorming NBA players led by Walt Fraizer, Earl “The Pearl” Monroe, Clifford Ray, the late Randy Smith, and George McGinnis, who were scattered from different teams and played in off-season matches,” said Mercado, also a business development manager of a popular fast-food chain.

“But it was during the time of Salud the league decided to make it as an annual classic starting in 1989 when the Veterans led by Jaworski and Fernandez and handled by the legendary Baby Dalupan nosed out the young, but talented Rookies, Sophomores, Juniors selection. It was a historic moment,” added Mercado.

But one thing which makes Salud different from the past commissioners, it’s his strong conviction.

“For a commissioner to impose a hefty P550,000 fine against the league’s most popular figure (Jaworski) and the most popular team (Añejo) for walking out of the game of a best-of-seven championship series speaks volume how strong Salud’s conviction is,” said Mercado.

Lawyer Percival Flores, another basketball historian who chronicles some of the PBA’s greatest moments, considers Salud as the key for the formation of Philippine basketball’s first-ever pro team to the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing .

“Yes, it happened during the time of Salud,” said Atty. Flores. “Short of saying na mas nauna pa tayo sa fabled Dream Team nina Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, which was only established in 1992. We were the first country to send an all-pro team when the open-basketball policy was implemented in 1989.”

Flores, legal counsel of a well-known real estate in the country, also credited Salud for ably working behind the scenes even if he has yet to be named the league’s commissioner.

“Salud should be credited for maintaining parity in the league when he was commissioner. There was a time it was like Ginebra versus the world in the PBA. And if I’m not mistaken, it was also Salud, then a deputy commissioner for Yenko, was the one who initiated to implement a rule where premier big men Mon Fernandez, Abet Guidaben and Manny Victorino cannot play together in one team,” added Flores.

There are many ways to remember man who became part of the institution’s success. Salud will be remembered in many ways, especially those who loved and continued to follow the PBA.