Chairman Ronnie Rickets of the Optical Media Board yesterday said they have seized P51 million in pirated video discs from business establishments in Bacolod City and Negros Occidental since July this year.

Rickets, who was at the ceremonial destruction of the pirated video discs at the Bacolod City Government Center grounds with Bacolod Mayor Monico Puentevella, said that, in the last four months of their operation, about 360 sacks of pirated video discs valued at P46 million were confiscated.

On Sunday, OMB led by Rickets himself, together with the Regional Intelligence Unit of the Philippine National Police, raided a mall at Gonzaga Street in Bacolod and recovered additional pirated video discs valued at P5 million.

Rickets said there was resistance from the vendors but he emphasized to them that selling pirated discs is a violation of Republic Act 9239, or the Optical Media Board Act.

OMB did not arrest the vendors, and only warned them against selling pirated discs.

The OMB chairman admitted that video piracy remains rampant in various parts of the country and, in fact, several areas in the Visayas are being closely monitored.

To help curb video piracy, Rickets said, they are closely coordinating with the members of the Philippine National Police intelligence group, National Bureau of Investigation, and the Criminal Investigation and Detection.

Rickets met with the management of malls in Bacolod City and also conducted a forum on their Anti-Piracy campaign in schools, where he told students not to patronize pirated discs.*APN

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