"The honor is unexpected," says Bong. "I got a letter then a phone call from Mr. Mike Ellis, head of the MPAA office in Asia, officially informing me that they are giving me an Award of Merit during the Global Anti-Piracy Conference held at their headquarters in Encino, California. The awarding ceremonies were held July 25, but the day before that, they gave me a tour of the various Hollywood studios. They know I’m an actor so I really welcomed this as it gave me the chance to learn more about the latest in film production. Among those who handed me the award were William Murray, co-chief operating of the MPAA; Kenneth Jacobson, senior vice president and director for worldwide anti-piracy, and Frank Rittman, Asia Pacific director. So far, I believe we’re on the right track in our fight against piracy because even US Assistant Secretary for Market Access, William Lash, wrote me a letter a couple of months ago commending me for my efforts, like in the conviction of 12 Chinese and Indonesian film pirates."
Bong left with his wife, Lani Mercado, and their daughter, Inah. "We actually shot two birds with one stone because I also got the chance to meet up with my father (Sen. Ramon Revilla, Sr.) who was having a medical check-up there. He was accompanied by two of my sisters, Rowena and Andrea. They came with me to the awarding ceremonies and I dedicated the award to my Dad."
On July 13, Bong spearheaded a raid of eight buildings in Quiapo, sweeping all illegal video establishments on Arlegui, Elizondo, Guna and Globo de Oro Streets, the infamous center of trading for pirated materials. They were authorized by 400 search warrants issued by the Hon. Judge Alejo Floro of the Valenzuela Regional Trial Court.
"The raid was actually supposed to be conducted a week earlier yet," he says. "But there was a leakage. Obviously, they have a mole in our office who alerted them. You know how money talks. So what I did was I made the schedule of the raid a secret except to a few of my most trusted men. Then I called for the help of the generals of the Armed Forces Anti-Crime Task Force, the PNP Special Action Froces, the Presidential Security Group and PNP-VRB Task Force. They sent about 400 armed soldiers and we got there at dawn, catching them by surprise. The last time we were there, we had only 70 soldiers so they were undaunted and even resisted and fought us. But this time, with our show of force, the distributors and vendors did not complain at all when we started confiscating their pirated materials.
"We were able to open four warehouses full of illegal DVD’s, still in their tubes and boxes, most of them allegedly imported from Malaysia. My estimate is that we seized two million pieces of DVD’s and CD’s, including CD recording towers used in the illegal reproduction of video and audio compact discs. The street value in pesos should be around 200 million, our biggest haul so far."
With this, Bong hopes that accusations that all the raids he does to seize pirated VCD’s are mere publicity stunts will be put to rest.
"I feel hurt when I hear such allegations because they don’t know how dangerous my job is," he explains "I’m fighting the financiers of these vendors who remain unseen. I am putting my own life at risk here. The scope of piracy is broad and so great. It’s like an octopus with many tentacles so it’s not that easy to totally eradicate it. But I do hope the general public gets our message clearly. We are not stopping in our campaign against pirated videos. We have also arrested many foreigners involved in piracy who are now in jail. I just hope the courts will keep them and that the Bureau of Immigration will also prosecute them because they’re mostly illegal aliens who actually helping sabotage our economy."
Bong celebrated his first year as VRB chief last July. "I made my first raid of the Quiapo Barter Trade area in July 6 of last year. And I am happy to report that since then, over P4.5 billion pesos worth of pirated materials and replicating machines have already been seized by the VRB. I want to finish the mission that I started. You know, what’s amusing is that when we made that dawn raid in Quiapo, the vendors were actually singing to me the theme song of my sitcom on GMA 7, Idol Ko Si Kap. Some were even saying, ‘Bong, you’re our idol. Just run for the Senate and we’ll vote for you so you won’t be VRB chief anymore.’ Imagine, they want me to be a senator so someone else can take my place at the VRB. But if ever I’d leave this post, I’ll make sure the one who’ll replace me will be as equally tough in running after these pirates. I really wish someone like my Pareng Daboy (Rudy Fernandez) would accept the job so he can continue the fight of the VRB against piracy."
Aside from the MPAA Award of Merit, Bong was also honored by the Filipino communities in the US. He got a plaque of merit and a medal of honor as Outstanding Filipino 2003 from the United Philippine National Press Club of America for being a good role model to Filipino-American communities across the US. The awarding was held at the New Otani Hotel at downtown Los Angeles.
To Bong, congratulations for all your awards!