Pirated VCD factory in Baguio raided

BAGUIO CITY — Authorities on Wednesday night raided a factory of pirated VCDs and CDs here believed to be supplying the banned items in this city and the rest of Northern Luzon provinces.

Baguio City policemen led by Police Supt. Ernesto Gaab swooped down on the rented house of Marawi City native Haji Yazim Mambuay, 38, and Lanao del Sur-born Usman Pangandaman Gandarosa, 59, along Sandico Street for violating anti-copyright laws.

Two VCD and CD copying machines, 400 pieces of blank CDs, 1,050 empty casing for VCDs and CDs, 100 bundles of VCD labels, 710 VCD movies and at least 2,291 pieces of assorted pirated CDs and VCDs were confiscated.

Gaab said the CD writer and copying machines can copy 400 VCDs in one night.

Mambuay and Gandarosa, both Muslim traders, were brought to the police station but released on the same night when they promised to appear today at the city police office to answer charges.

Although the two denied they are supplying the rest of Northern Luzon provinces with pirated VCDs and CDs, Gaab and the police suspected that the two are copying these illegal items for regions 1 and 2 including the Cordillera region.

"With the rate of the copying and the bulk of the seized empty VCDs, we have enough to suspect that they really are copying these items for supply in Northern Luzon," Gaab said.

The haul, the biggest so far in the campaign of the local police against piracy, have also proven another thing for authorities, Gaab said.

Earlier, police thought these pirated items are being transported by bulk from Metro Manila. The raid proved that illegal copying of VCDs and CDs are done in the city.

Similar raids were conducted in the past by agencies like the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), which have also confiscated the illegal merchandise. However, several days after the seizure, copies of the same items were again seen being peddled by Muslim traders, especially along Session Road, the city’s main business thoroughfare.

City police director Francisco Manalo Jr. said the seized items will be destroyed by city officials as he vowed to run after others who are violating copyright laws.