Negros Occ raids seize P11.9M pirated discs

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — About P11.9 million worth of pirated video compact discs (VCD) and digital video discs (DVD) were confiscated in raids at Negros Occidental by operatives of the Optical Media Group (OMB) and the Police Regional Intelligence Unit (RIU)-Region 6 over the past three days.

The raids were conducted in the cities of Bacolod, Victorias and Silay from Wednesday until Friday, this week, according to Sergio Valdez, deputy head of the OMB Enforcement Division.

The amount indicated by the OMB in its report was not the actual market value of the seized items, which is between P25 and P35 each, but was the price of the original ones (P350 each) because it was presumed to be the total losses incurred by legitimate sellers, Valdez explained.

He said they were not able to apprehend the vendors because they had fled even before the operatives arrived. Other confiscated items were seven TV sets, six DVD players and several speakers.

Earlier on Tuesday, the OMB also seized 121 sacks of pirated VCDs and DVDs, valued at P4 million, from three malls in Bacolod. These are now kept by the RIU-6 in the city, and will soon be destroyed, Valez added.  (FREEMAN)