P6.8B worth of fake goods seized this year
Video by INQUIRER.net’s Ryan Leagogo
MANILA, Philippines—Various law enforcement agencies confiscated more than P6.8-billion worth of pirated or fake products during the first half of the year, the Philippine National Police said on Friday.
Citing a report from the National Committee on Intellectual Property Rights (NCIPR), the PNP said the total value of seized counterfeit items from January to June this year increased by nearly 215 percent compared to the recovered goods during the same period in 2013.
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Ronnie Rickets, chair of the Optical Media Board (OMB). RYAN LEAGOGO/INQUIRER.net
Together with the member-agencies of the NCIPR, the PNP staged the destruction of fake goods, using tanks and a steam roller to crush pirated CDs and DVDs, shoes, eyeglasses, photocopies of reviewers, bags and other seized counterfeited goods.
Article continues after this advertisementRonnie Rickets, chair of the Optical Media Board (OMB), said the government’s success in stemming piracy in the country prompted the US government to remove the Philippines from the so-called Special 301 Watch List last April.
It was the first time in 20 years that the Philippines was stricken off the list of countries considered piracy hot spots by the Office of the United States Trade Representative.
“We’re making headway in the fight against piracy with the collaboration of concerned state agencies,” Rickets told reporters at the sidelines of the ceremonial destruction of some P20-million worth of seized products at Camp Crame.
“One of the important facets of our anti-piracy program is an awareness campaign. Fortunately, the people have been reacting positively to our efforts,” he said in Filipino.
Himself a former movie action star, Rickets believes the government’s success in curbing piracy helped resuscitate the dying local movie industry which had been losing out to foreign films in the past several years.
A few years ago, he said local movie producers were only able to make an average of 68 local films a year.
But due to the government’s intensified operations against the makers of pirated digital video discs, he said about 300 Filipino films were produced last year.
On the other hand, the annual Metro Manila Film Festival raked in more than P1 billion in profits in 2013, the OMB chair noted.
“You can see the leap (in the number of movies made every year). The movie industry has regained its energy because the people are supporting the local films,” Rickets said.
He said the OMB had also been conducting dialogues with small businessmen who were previously involved in selling pirated DVDs in Quiapo, Manila and in Baclaran, Paranaque City.
“Our desire to (fight) this multifaceted (problem) will not be completely successful without the help of consumers,” PNP Director General Alan Purisima said in a statement.
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