Camarines Sur Polytechnic Colleges (CSPC) released a statement after its 2022 batch valedictorian was accused of delivering a plagiarized speech.
In a Facebook post, CSPC apologized on behalf of Jayvee Ayen, whose speech made rounds online when netizens noticed its glaring similarity with that of Mariyela Mari Hugo’s speech when she graduated as batch valedictorian from Far Eastern University in 2019.
“The issue on the Valedictory Address of Mr. Jayvee Ayen has been dragging on for days, especially in the social media/virtual world. A world we have to contend with aside from the real/physical one we have. A world that is sometimes more harsh than what we have in the daily grind,” CSPC said.
“With all that has been said and done and on behalf of Mr. Jayvee Ayen, we apologize to Ms. Mariyela Mari G. Hugo for the carefree attitude of Mr. Ayen in unintentionally copying the idea and style of her speech without proper attribution.”
Meanwhile, Jayvee explained that it was not his intention to plagiarize Mariyela’s speech.
“Kay Ma’am Mariyela, I am really sorry. Hindi ko po intensyon na i-plagiarize yung speech niya. Nagkataon lang talaga na same topic yung gusto ko i-address at the same time nagkataon rin na napanood ko ‘yung video niya,” Ayen said , according to CSPC’s student publication The SPARK.
CSPC also apologized to those who were affected by the issue and asked that they allow this to pass as Ayen starts his professional journey.
“We knock on the generosity of hearts of everyone to allow this to pass without hatred towards the person as he moves on to start a career in his life as an entrepreneur or whatever path he would wish to take,” they added.
They also vowed to take the “appropriate steps for corrective and formative measures towards Mr. Ayen and in the school in general.”