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IT looks like it will take only a pair of Labrador
retrievers to put out of business the video pirates that the
government is trying mightily to run out of town.
On Monday the dogs—Lucky and
Flo—led Optical Media Board agents and representatives of the
Motion Picture Association in separate raids on video outlets in
Makati, Pasig and Mandaluyong. The association brought the dogs here
to confiscate copies of fake Hollywood movies, child pornography and
pirated Asian movies. It investigates piracy for big movie
companies.
In the first hour, the dogs
helped the board and the association seize at least 300,000 pirated
DVDs and CDs and arrest 11 people who will face charges of copyright
infringement and violation of antipornography laws.
An MPA survey last year showed
its members lost $1.2 billion to pirates in Asia-Pacific and $6.1
billion globally.
The Philippine film industry has
complained over massive piracy of domestic movies. The industry
loses billions each year as theater attendance falls and fans enjoy
pirated copies at home. Bootleg music and pornography are also
popular at retail outlets.
The products are sold openly at
well-known supermalls and shopping districts all over Metro Manila
and in urban centers across the country.
Successive raids by OPM enforcers
have failed to control the copying and retailing business. The
outlets reopen after each raid, supplied generously by Filipino and
foreign counterfeiters, protected by shadowy angels.
Come now Lucky and Flo—the
crusading canines—to the rescue. Their specialty is sniffing out
not the discs on display, but outlawed products stashed in boxes,
bags, cartons and other places.
The dogs have angered video
pirates in Malaysia by helping the government flush out 1.3 million
discs and burners worth about $3.3 million. The bootleg makers
reportedly offered a $14,286 bounty on each of the dogs.
The female Labradors, trained in
Ireland, are the only dogs in the world trained to sit still or
freeze when they sniff polycarbonate, a chemical used in optical
discs.
Their arrival in Manila was kept
secret until Monday’s raid. Their whereabouts are confidential
because Filipino pirates have also put a price on their heads.
Edu Manzano, Optical Media Board
chairman, said his office is considering forming its K-9 team. Do
it, sir, your men are dog-tired running after the elusive pirates.
It would be nice if someone would
also train dogs that could sniff out fake designer bags, watches,
shoes and jewelry. The canines could help not only the design
industry but would also embarrass the pretenders and the show-offs
who love to flaunt their imitation jewelry at high-profile parties.
How list the party-list
system?
Only 53 percent of Filipino
registered voters have heard or read something about the party-list
system, the latest Pulse Asia survey said. About 47 percent know
nothing about the system, which took off in 1998.
The highest level of awareness is
among those in class ABC (68%), in the Visayas (60%) and in Metro
Manila (62%). Lack of awareness is “most pronounced” in the rest
of Luzon (51%), Mindanao (52%) and in the poorest class E (54%).
The first party-list election
took place in 1998 to allow marginalized sectors to send their
representatives to Congress.
The Pulse Asia survey results
showed that if the May 14 elections were held today, only 10 of the
93 party-list candidates for congressional seats “would have a
statistical chance of sending at least one of their nominees to the
House of Representatives.”
The parties range from the
left-leaning Bayan Muna, which potentially could elect three
representatives, to Ahon Pinoy, the group representing overseas
workers, which could win at least one seat.
A political analyst said
left-of-center groups might have dominated past elections because
they are well organized and funded.
The party-list system made news
in recent weeks. The military has not kept secret its distrust of
militant party-list factions for being communist sympathizers. Some
sectors have charged that several organizations were fronts for the
administration or the professional political parties.
There was pressure on the
Commission on Elections to reveal the nominees of the party-list
groups. Some sectors have claimed that party-list elections could be
rigged for a price. The Comelec has denied these accusations.
Sectoral representation is an
innovative landmark in the political life. It has allowed social
substreams into the main current and has strengthened the democratic
process. Left-of-center groups and cause-oriented organizations like
Ahon Pinoy offer genuine alternatives and fresh voices in the
establishment-dominated Congress.
We expect public awareness to
rise as the 2007 campaign progresses and as increasing maturity
guides the evolution of the system. In the House, we expect the
sectoral groups to challenge the status quo and to offer meaningful
options to the conventional legislative agenda.
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