“Magnanakaw ang mga pirata. Ninakaw nila ang buhay ng libo-libong trabahador sa pagawaan ng mga bag sa Marikina. Dahil gumagawa sila niyan at ibinebenta dito sa atin!”
It was Ricardo Blancaflor, the Director General of the Intellectual Property Office Philippines (IPOPHL). He then pointed at heaps of counterfeited and pirated bags, fake Louis Vuittons to be exact, in front of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Grandstand, Camp Crame, Quezon City.
It was the ceremonial destruction of confiscated counterfeited and pirated goods led by IPOPHL in cooperation with National Committee on Intellectual Property Rights (NCIPR) held last June 30, 2011. The activity was part of the celebration of World Anti-Counterfeiting Day. The Global Anti-Counterfeiting Group marked one day in the calendar to raise the common people’s awareness on IP, piracy and the world economy.
Arturo Cacdac, Jr., the Director of Directoriate for Investigation and Detective Management,PNP delivered the welcome and opening remarks.
The representatives of Bureau of Customs, Department of Interior and Local Government, Optical Media Board, Food and Drug Administration, National Book Development Board, National Bureau of Investigation, Office of the Special Envoy on Transnational Crime, PNP, Department of Justice, National Telecommunications Office and Intellectual Property Coalition, Inc. delivered their statement of support.
Everyone was hopeful that fight against counterfeit and piracy in the Philippines is now moving from one level up to the next in a speedy manner. Most of them invited the public to join the fight as well. Because, as DG Blancaflor earlier expressed, it was a fight for the livelihood, for the lives of workers.
The ceremonial destruction included slashing fake Louis Vuittons and fake Lacoste rubber shoes with a cutter, crushing fake DVDs and computer hardware (a tank ran over them again and again) and throwing fake Viagra and medicines into the incinerator.
Private groups and companies also took part in the celebration. Attendees were representatives of Oakley Eyewear company and FILCOLS among others.
FILCOLS destroyed a number of book-alikes through an incinerator in the middle of the parade grounds. The day before, FILCOLS went to Morayta and was able to buy pirated versions of local and foreign published books particularly Cambridge IELTS for the ceremonial destruction.
Ms. Helen Cheng, the First Secretary of the Economic and Commercial Section, Embassy of the People’s Republic of China showed her support of the event by giving the closing remarks.
Written by Beverly W. Siy. You may repost this article or publish it anywhere, for free, as long as the byline of the author is retained. Photos are owned by FILCOLS. Email us at filcols@gmail.com if you have questions.
No comments:
Post a Comment