MANILA, 28 September 2004 — The Optical Media Board goes after disc pirates no matter what their ethnic background is, and does not discriminate against Muslim vendors of pirated merchandise, according to OMB chairman, actor and host Edu Manzano.
“We’ve been telling people again and again that not only Filipino Muslim vendors of pirated materials are apprehended,” Manzano said.
“We also go after Christians, as well as those of Indian and Chinese descent.
“But I guess some people are simply not provided with sufficient information about what the OMB does and who it is after,” added the actor who called his OMB duties “a thankless job.”
“That is why we continue to conduct talks with our Muslim brothers,” he said. “During a recent dialogue, we suggested that they form a group and make it legal. Then we might be able to make special concessions for them, like setting them up with dealers of original video discs.”
Edu was reacting to the reported comment of a congressman who said last week that the OMB was biased because it only went after Muslim vendors of pirated discs instead of pursuing the big fish in piracy.
Edu admitted that the OMB is also blamed for the loss of the jobs of many VCD and DVD vendors, especially those belonging to the Muslim community.
He reported that last Thursday, OMB agents intercepted a plane from Indonesia carrying pirated video discs and labels worth P25,000 at the Davao International Airport. Last Aug. 11, agents raided the Great Ocean factory in Portrero, Malabon, and seized P100 million worth of pirated materials.
He said 85 percent of pirated video compact discs (VCDs) and digital video discs (DVDs) come from Malaysia, Thailand, India and Indonesia.
Despite the criticisms against the OMB, Edu said he believes the OMB is “doing an excellent job.”
“Because of our raids, the pirated DVDs prices went up from P40-50 to P90-100 each because they’ve become scarce,” he said.
