Legazpi Helpless in Fight vs Pirated DVDs - Rosal

LEGAZPI CITY, Jan. 4 -- City Mayor Carmen Geraldine Rosal expressed dismay over the dismal performance of various law enforcement agencies in fighting pirated Digital Video Disc (DVD) and other optical discs proliferating in various outlets in this city.

Rosal claimed that pirated DVD, CDs are everywhere in commercial stores, stalls.

"They sell like hot cakes, people buy a lot of these pirated stuff at the expense of the original producers that invested millions film making and recording,” she lamented.

As this developed, Rosal urged law enforcement agencies to be vigilant and to intensify campaign against the widespread piracy of foreign and local movie and music DVDs in the city.

The city's business establishments data indicate that close to a hundred DVD stores are operating and that mostly Muslim traders are selling pirated DVD's here.

Rosal, quoting a study, said that Filipino movie industry, as well as international film distributors are losing millions of pesos yearly to the pirates.

"Although the cost of movie and software piracy may be quantified in terms of millions of pesos lost, the real cost of movie and software piracy is in the taste of the Filipino people and their respect for the creativity of people who poured energy, resources and time just to produce such things," she explained.

The irony of which, she added, that the Optical Media Board (OMB), the agency responsible in curbing the existence of pirated optical and audio materials, could do less here because of the absence of office or personnel in this city, likewise other law enforcers like the Philippine National Police (PNP) the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) are ineffective in the campaign against DVD piracy.

Piracy in the movie and music recording provides cheap movie experience as most pirated movie DVDs are taken fresh from movie theatres.

The money and profits that movie studios should have received for their efforts and for future films are being turned over to the hands of movie piracy proponents, Rosal furthered. (PNA Bicol/PIA/mal)