Pirated DVDs, CDs worth P140M seized

Philippines - THE Optical Media Board (OMB), for the second time this year, confiscated P140 million worth of pirated DVDs and CDs during a follow-up operation in Vision Theatre on Colon St., Barangay Kalubihan, yesterday afternoon.

OMB legal officer Atty. Cyrus Velenzuela said they will present the seized pirated DVDs to the courts that issued a search warrant in Manila.

“These will be shipped to Manila for proper disposal. Because this was by virtue of a search warrant, we will present these to the courts that issued the warrant,” Velenzuela said.

More than 1,000 sacks of pirated DVDs and CDs were confiscated by the OMB and Velenzuela noted that they seized more illegal DVDs than in their previous operation.

“We weren’t prepared last time na ganito pala karami. We didn’t also expect that they would be aggressive,” he said.

Four OMB agents were hurt last Feb. 1 when they were reportedly mauled by store owners during the operation.

In yesterday’s operation, there were 30 OMB personnel while 100 police officers were sent to secure the area, he said.

The legal officer said that aside from being retailers, the owners of the 16 stalls in the area also manufacture their own copies of pirated DVDs.

“They have burning towers that they can use to reproduce the pirated DVDs. I believe that with the volume of these illegal DVDs, they can supply the entire city,” he said in Tagalog.

The Cebu City Police Office helped the OMB in serving 18 search warrants for anti-piracy during the operation.