BAGUIO CITY: At least a hundred sacks of pirated discs including television sets were destroyed in front of the Baguio City Hall recently as part of this highland town’s intensified drive against piracy.

The pirated discs were confiscated in operations conducted in the different business establishments, stalls, stores and even sidewalks in Baguio City and La Trinidad in Benguet by the joint forces of the Optical Media Board, National Bureau of Investigation, Police Regional Office-Cordillera particularly the Baguio City and the La Trinidad municipal police offices and the two local government units.

This brings now to more than P20 million worth of pirated discs to include DVDs, VCDs and CDs that have been confiscated and destroyed since the operation of the OMB and the other elements in the city and La Trinidad in April this year.

NBI-Cordillera Regional Director Constantino Joson said they are targeting more the wholesalers of pirated discs in the city and in La Trinidad since they are the ones supplying vendors and stalls particularly along establishments in Session Road and Maharlika and other areas in the central business district.

Meanwhile, OMB – Special Operations Group head Jun Saguirre is encouraging dialogues between the government and the vendors and traders of pirated discs so that the government can intervene and give solutions to the problems of these businessmen.

He warned the sellers and traders of pirated discs in the city that if they will not stop selling counterfeits, the OMB will be filing criminal cases against them under the Republic Act 9239 or the Anti Piracy Law.