DAVAO City Police Office (DCPO) director Police Senior Superintendent Alexander Tagum recommended the destruction of the 433 sacks of pirated items seized during the anti-piracy raid on Thursday, before these will be transported to Manila to avoid being used again.
In an interview at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, September 8, Tagum said they are just waiting for the go signal of Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio before they can start the disposal of the counterfeit DVDs/CDs for violation of Republic Act 9239 otherwise known as Optical Media Act of 2003.
Aside from DVDs and CDs, two television sets, 119 DVD/CD writers, and two DVD/CD players were also confiscated during the city-wide simultaneous inspection and raid dubbed as Oplan Murray that was conducted by DCPO and Optical Media Board (OMB) spearheaded by chairman lawyer Anselmo Adriano.
"Ang purpose why kinakailangan nating i-destroy itong seized media devices is because gusto po nating ma-dispel 'yung doubt or suspicion na baka ma-recycle ito at mabenta," Tagum said.
He added, "Considering that from the information mismo ng chairman ng Optical Media Board, ang lahat ng ito ay nagkakahalaga ng P65 million so just imagine kung maibenta ito sa Manila then maski 1/3 ng amount napakalaking bagay."
Asked if there would be another similar operation in the coming days, Tagum said that they will coordinate with the OMB, the primary agency tasked with this implementation or enforcement of the Optical Media Act.
"We will just rely on their request kung ipagpatuloy ang operation against all pirated DVDs/CDs ng movies na binebenta sa city," he said.
After the destruction, the torn pieces will be transported to Manila at the OMB office and will serve as evidence for the administrative proceedings. Adriano also approved the disposal of these items as long as it will be delivered to their office.
