Llamas not untouchable - Malacañang

MANILA, Philippines - Presidential Political Adviser Ronald Llamas is neither “untouchable” nor “indispensable” to the Aquino administration and Malacañang is not condoning the act of patronizing pirated digital video discs (DVDs), an official said yesterday.

Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said it would be up to Llamas to defend himself from criticisms after talking to President Aquino. He also said the government was not treating the fight against piracy as low priority as the lack of measures against intellectual property rights could lead to trade sanctions from the United States.

“No one should have any doubt that this administration is committed to upholding the law and international commitments to protect intellectual property rights. The Optical Media Board (OMB) and other agencies tasked with implementing our laws and regulations in this regard have been active,” Lacierda said.

He said what the President wanted to emphasize on Wednesday was a proper sense of proportion in issues such as this one. “Tasked with ensuring the security and safety of the Filipino people, he clearly and correctly stated that as far as he was concerned there are more pressing matters for him to be concentrating on. One controversy does not equate to the gutting of national commitments,” Lacierda said.

Only sellers, not buyers, of pirated copies of video and audio discs can be punished under the country’s anti-piracy law, an OMB official said yesterday.

Reacting to reports that Llamas bought pirated DVDs at a mall in Quezon City, OMB legal division chief Cocoy Padilla said “the purchase of DVDs (that are not original but) not used for commercial activities does not entail liability based on the law on optical media,” Republic Act 9230 or the Optical Media Act of 2003.

“Those in the possession of the same, but who do not sell them, are not penalized,” he said.

According to Padilla, only those engaged in the manufacture and selling of pirated goods could be punished under the anti-piracy law.

Asked whether Llamas should apologize or resign, Lacierda said Llamas would have to be given the chance to talk with the President first since Aquino had pointed out he would undergo a process.

 He admitted that as government officials, “we are supposed to be role models so I think it’s important, incumbent on us public officials to behave in accordance with law to behave in support of our drive, in whatever drive the government has launched and one of them being the drive against intellectual piracy.”