Total ban on sale of pirated discs in Manila starts July 1

MANILA, Philippines -  The total ban on the sale of pirated discs in the entire city of Manila begins tomorrow.

Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim and Optical Media Board (OMB) chairman Ronnie Ricketts agreed during a meeting at the Manila City Hall yesterday not to give in to requests for a postponement on the enforcement of the said ban.

Lim said the prohibition on the sale of pirated discs, including the lewd ones, will cover the streets, sidewalks and even stalls located inside buildings.

Lim and Ricketts said they will not give any concession to affected vendors who reportedly demanded ‘blood money’ in exchange for stopping their illegal trade. Lim said they could not give in to the whims of the few as this would only encourage the others to skirt the law.

Ricketts said peddlers of pirated discs already raked in a lot of money that they should no longer demand for anything.

He said OMB will also be providing a shredding machine to Lim’s office for them to immediately destroy seized pirated discs.

“We are doing this because I am so happy with the way Mayor Lim is giving his all-out support to our drive. We really thank him dahil napakalaki ng tulong niya sa amin,” Ricketts said.

Several meetings were also previously held with vendors of pirated discs to give them ample time to dispose of their wares and shift to legitimate sources of livelihood.