In the aftermath of Rappler’s public apology for the plagiarism committed by its staff member, Jezreel Ines, a medical professional from Hawaii took to X (formerly Twitter) on December 30 to express gratitude for the acknowledgment of the unethical conduct.
Dr. Louie Gangcuangco, an HIV and prevention medical doctor and infectious disease researcher, who appears to have initiated the call-out, posted a statement linking Rappler’s apology and their original paper, stating, “Dr. [Patrick] Eustaquio and I are grateful to Rappler for the sincere apology and for acknowledging that their article has plagiarized our work.”
Rappler, the digital newspaper led by American liberal and democrat Maria Ressa, issued an apology on Facebook and Twitter, acknowledging the plagiarism of Ines and assuring corrective measures were being taken.
The controversy unfolded when Gangcuangco publicly confronted Rappler on December 9 on X, stating, “Dear @rapplerdotcom, we appreciate that you are promoting HIV awareness. However, our article was copied and pasted verbatim in this article.”
Gangcuangco included a post of the plagiarized study conducted by himself and Dr. Eustaquio.
Following Rappler’s attempt at damage control by making edits to Ines’s article without an apology, Gangcuangco posted an update on the same platform.
“Update: Rappler has made some edits to their article but no real apologies from the editors. Additionally, the article still sounds very similar to our original paper,” Gangcuangco stated in a tweet on December 10.
Rappler responded to Gangcuangco’s tweet on the same day, acknowledging the oversight and stating, “Thank you for bringing this to our attention. In an earlier version of this story, some paragraphs failed to mention the source of the data mentioned by the author. This has been corrected.”
Unsatisfied with Rappler’s response, Gangcuangco emphasized the significance of the plagiarism issue, stating, “I think what people don’t understand is that the copy and paste was blatant before @rapplerdotcom ‘corrected’ their article to cite us. Citing does not mean you can paste the whole paragraph verbatim,” accompanied by a screenshot comparing the plagiarized paragraphs.
The nature of Ines’s plagiarism, termed ‘mosaic plagiarism,’ involved stealing phrases from the original source without proper attribution using quotation marks. Despite multiple call-outs by Gangcuangco, Rappler’s editorial staff failed to adequately address the issue.
In light of multiple calls from Gangcuangco, it was the responsibility of Rappler’s copy editor or editorial staff to ensure that plagiarism was properly addressed and to investigate the type of plagiarism committed.
In Gangcuangco’s screenshot, it was evident that Ines committed both mosaic and direct plagiarism, copying verbatim a line from the original source.
If Rappler indeed conducted an “internal investigation,” as claimed in its December 30th social media post, it took the outlet at least 20 days to probe and confirm Ines’s plagiarism of academic research and journalistic work.
Dr. Gangcuangco, who completed the MSc in Clinical Trials program at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in November 2021, joined the Hawaii Center for AIDS, University of Hawaii at Manoa, as Assistant Professor of Medicine in July 2022.
Their research paper, titled “The State of the HIV Epidemic in the Philippines: Progress and Challenges in 2023,” explored the extent of HIV cases and the significant progress in HIV treatment and prevention in the country.
Ines’s Rappler article, “The State of HIV Epidemic in the Philippines,” was technically not taken down but replaced with a statement linking to the original research paper by Gangcuangco and Eustaquio, first published online on April 30, 2023.
An apology was issued to “Dr. Gangcuangco and Dr. Eustaquio and to our readers” for the “lamentable editorial lapse.”
Public backlash ensued, with netizens pointing out professional neglect and laziness on the part of Rappler’s editorial staff.
“Lazy editorial work from Rappler for them not to spot the plagiarism,” commented Jan on X.
Another user named Gilbert M. questioned the standards, stating, “@mariaressa @rapplerdotcom is this the kind of article you posted on your blogsite? Disgusting! What a shame!”
Francky Lime, another user, criticized Rappler, saying, “UNPROFESSIONAL. A journalistic FRAUD personified by Ressa.”
The Daily Netizen 
[…] UPDATE: How ‘Lazy’ Rappler Took 20 Days to Resolve Plagiarism Accusations Following Repeated Calls and C… […]
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