P500 million fake items seized

CEBU, Philippines — At least P500 million worth of counterfeit luxury items have been seized by the operatives of National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) from Manila during a raid at a mall in Mandaue City on Thursday, October 17.

Agents from the NBI Intellectual Property Rights Division in Manila, led by Supervising Agent John Ignacio, raided 33 stalls at Park Mall in Barangay Tipolo, Mandaue City on strength of search warrants issued by Judge Maria Victoria Villadolid of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 24 in Manila for violation of the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines.

The operation stemmed from a complaint from Louis Vuitton in Hongkong against the stores selling counterfeit LV products in Mandaue City. A two-day surveillance operation, which includes test buy, was conducted in September to confirm the report.

“We confiscated fake LV bags, shoes, watches, wallets, belts and other personal accessories,” said Ignacio after the raid.

According to Ignacio, the fake LV bags are sold at prices ranging from P2,500 to P20,000 depending on the design and the quality.

“Syempre yung peke na LV bag merong P2,500, may P5,000 or even P20,000.  Pero yung original na LV bag can range from P100,000 to a million,” said Ignacio.

He said the owners of the 33 stalls will be charged for infringement of intellectual property rights under the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines and other applicable laws.

One of the stall owners who requested anonymity said that they were caught by surprise when NBI agents told them about the raid yesterday.

“Daghan sila og mga bags nakuha. Apil na mga sandals, relo, sunglasses, earrings,” says a teary-eyed store owner.

According to her, she lost over a million worth of LV products to the raiding team.

Ignacio said the confiscated items will be turned over to the court that issued the search warrant. He said the court will decide what to do with the fake products but normally the court would order the destruction to prevent from being recycled.

Aside from counterfeit LV products, Ignacio said, the stores subject of the raid yesterday were also selling other luxury brands such as Hermes, Dior, Gucci, Bottega, Balenciaga, Fendi, Channel, Prada, among others, which Ignacio believes were also fake.

He, however, said they could not seize them because their search warrants only cover Louis Vuitton products.

“Hindi sila kasali kasi yung manufacturer niyan, hindi naman sila nagreklamo. Yung LV lang ang nag-file ng complaint, kaya yung mga fake products lang nila ang na seized namin,” Ignacio explained.

Ignacio said that selling fake products is bad for the economy and it is best for these store owners to sell locally-made products.

Louis Vuitton Malletier, commonly known as Louis Vuitton, is a French luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton. It is one of the world's leading international fashion houses. In fact, it was named the world's most valuable luxury brand for six consecutive years from 2006 to 2012. —/FPL (FREEMAN)