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Optical Media Board chairman and television host Edu
Manzano said al-Qaeda-linked Islamic militants from the Abu Sayyaf
group are suspected of rampant intellectual piracy in the
Philippines, particularly of Hollywood films, to raise funds.
The Abu Sayyaf, blamed for the
worst terrorist attacks in the Southeast Asian country, was likely
behind the illegal copying of movies onto DVDs, which are then
peddled at Manila shops by migrant Muslim traders, asserted Manzano.
His agency has been cracking down
on the trade, but Manzano said over ABS-CBN television that this has
not stemmed the tide of counterfeits.
Many armed groups around the
world traffic in counterfeits to raise funds, and the Abu Sayyaf
would be no exception, he claimed.
“In the same way that the
Yakuza [crime gangs] are behind them in Japan and the Hezbollah are
involved in [counterfeiting in] the Middle East, they are suspected
of this,” Manzano said, referring to Abu Sayyaf.
Although the government lacked
“documentary evidence” linking the Abu Sayyaf to the trade, he
said recent government raids on suspected intellectual pirates in
Manila’s Muslim communities have turned up counterfeit DVDs and
fake luxury goods, packaged with illegal drugs, grenades and even
mercury.
Manzano said the highly regulated
metal was a vital component in the manufacture of “priming devices
for explosives.”
The Abu Sayyaf was allegedly set
up with seed funds provided by al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden. It
has been blamed for bombings and kidnappings in the Philippines.
--AFP
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