Did ‘Owly: Just a Little Blue’ inspire Sara Duterte’s ‘Isang Kaibigan’ book?
MANILA, Philippines – Vice President Sara Duterte’s Isang Kaibigan children’s book has become the topic of heated discussions and memes.
The book surfaced at the Senate budget deliberations on the 2025 proposed budget of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) on Tuesday, August 20. Senator Risa Hontiveros questioned what the book that was allocated P10 million under the proposed budget was about, leading to Duterte accusing Hontiveros of politicizing the hearing in an intense exchange.
Filipino netizens were quick to poke fun at the book, creating memes that referenced Duterte’s past controversies – like her punching a court sheriff in 2011 during her run as Davao City’s mayor, and her recent personal trip to Germany during Typhoon Carina.
But Isang Kaibigan has sparked a new conversation: whether its striking similarities to the 2009 children’s graphic novel Owly: Just a Little Blue by Andy Runton are just a coincidence.
Isang Kaibigan takes on the theme of true friends who help you during tough times. It follows Kwago, an owl who loses his home and all his belongings to a storm. He is then kept company by one friend, Loro, a parrot who helps him rebuild his nest after the onslaught of the heavy rains.
Meanwhile, Owly: Just a Little Blue follows best friends Owly and Wormy, who help a family of bluebirds living in a damaged tree build a new home. However, the family didn’t like it as much as Owly and Wormy would have hoped. When a storm comes, the two friends immediately remember the bluebirds and start working on helping them seek shelter from the rain.
It’s the second book in Andy Runton’s graphic novel series Owly, which was first published in 2004. Owly: Just a Little Blue‘s original, black-and-white edition with no text was published in 2009. It was later republished in 2020 in full color, and with text.
Author and activist Ninotchka Rosca first posted about Owly: Just a Little Blue, on Wednesday, August 21, explaining the book’s synopsis.
“Ay, natawa ako (I laughed),” Rosca wrote right after the book’s description.
Other Filipino writers then began to take notice of the supposed similarities between Duterte’s book and Runton’s book.
Rappler columnist Antonio J. Montalvan II questioned if the reason behind Duterte’s outburst during her exchange with Hontiveros was because the book was plagiarized.
“Is this the reason for the tantrum? The question was simple – what is the book about? Then she flared up. Dahil ba [plagiarized] ang book (Is it because the book is plagiarized)? That’s [P10 million] for possible plagiarism,” Montalvan wrote.
Meanwhile, another netizen called on others to search up the other Owly books to check for plagiarism, also speculating that this could be the reason why Duterte had gotten upset during the budget hearing.
In an X post, journalist Raissa Robles also asked Runton to check if he thinks Isang Kaibigan bears any similarities with his book.
To @Owly – Pls look if this book looks similar to yours. Thanks. https://t.co/7ynveGhKFn
— Raissa Robles (@raissawriter) August 21, 2024
As of this writing, however, Runton has yet to comment on the matter.
Isang Kaibigan is part of the OVP’s flagship program, “PagbaBAGo Campaign,” where one million beneficiaries will receive bags that contain the book. The book is 16 pages long, and was published by the OVP. – Rappler.com