Members of the Optical Media Board team, armed with a search warrant, forcibly opened 12 closed stalls in an establishment in Colon Street, Cebu City and confiscated 1,000 sacks of pirated DVDs and VCDs.
cdn photo/christian maningo
AT LEAST 100 police officers and members of the Optical Media Board (OMB) raided on Saturday 12 stalls in an establishment along Colon Street in Cebu City and confiscated P140 million worth of VCDs and DVDs.
Lawyer Cyrus Valenzuela, head of the Legal Division of the OMB who headed the team, said that they had with them a search warrant issued by Judge Elma Rafallo – Lingan of Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Pasig City, when they conducted the raid.
Valenzuela said that the stalls were closed but they opened it and confiscated 1000 sacks of pirated items.
“Inubos namin ang laman to make sure na wala nang maibebenta sila (We emptied the area to make sure that they have nothing else to sell),” Valenzuela said.
Valenzuela said that sellers violated the Republic Act 9239 otherwise known as “Optical Media Act of 2003”, which an act that ensures the protection and promotion of intellectual property rights.
They also arrested Anuar Allam, 42, who was the only seller who rushed to the area and was one of the stall owners, when the raid was conducted.
Aside from facing charges of violation of the Optical Media Act, Allam would also be charged with resisting arrest and for assaulting a police officer, said Valenzuela.
“Umamin siya na siya ang may-ari ng tindahan (He admitted that he owned the store). Pangalawa (Second, he was) resisting arrest. We were trying to detain him pero lumalaban siya,” he said.
He added that the seized pirated tapes will be brought to their main office in Manila, while the stores will be ordered close.
Police officers from the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7) and the Cebu City Police Office assisted the OMB in the raid.
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