Abante plagiarizes satire article claiming trademark over “Catholics”

Posted on June 16th, 2011. Written by Rico.

Local tabloid Abante reported today that the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) had trademarked the term “Catholic”. Unfortunately, the basis for their story is a satire article published on The Filipino Freethinkers (FF) website.

What’s worse than treating fake news as real? Not crediting your source and plagiarizing it. Here’s how the FF article, written back in June 13, starts:

Manila, Philippines — In response to the existence of Catholics™ for RH (C4RH), the Catholic™ Bishops Conference of the Philippines have trademarked the term, “Catholic™.”

An official of the CBCP said Monday that the term “Catholic™” is reserved for those who obey the Pope’s teachings and are granted an official license by the Vatican through its newly formed franchising agent in the Philippines, the CBCP Commission on Franchising and Life (COFAL). COFAL recently filed a complaint with the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines against C4RH.

Here’s how the Abante article, published today on the tabloid’s website, starts:

Dahil sa pamamayagpag ng mga Katolikong sumusuporta sa Reproductive Health (RH) bill ay tinatakan (trademark) ng Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) ang terminong ‘Katoliko’ bilang eksklusibong tawag sa mga miyembro ng Simbahang Katoliko na sumusunod sa kanilang mga aral.

Isang opisyal ng CBCP ang nagsabing ang terminong ‘Catholic’ ay nakareserba lamang sa mga sumusunod sa aral ng Santo Papa kung saan ay nabigyan ng opisyal na lisensya ng Vatican sa pamamagitan ng binuong bagong franchising agent sa Pilipinas ay ang CBCP Commission on Franchising and Life o COFAL.

As said by Marcelle Fabie, the local blogger and mentalist who brought this to our attention: “Fire your fact-checkers Abante.”