The Optical Media Board chief on Tuesday predicted a decrease in the number of pirated optical media products in the Philippines in the next two to three years as a growing number of people prefer to download music and movies from the Internet.    

OMB chairman Edu Manzano said US film and recording companies lost an estimated $2.3 billion in revenues last year due to illegal downloads from the Internet.

“We look at maybe two or three years and you’re going to see a sharp decline in the number of pirated optical media products in the market, but they are still there,” Manzano said in an interview on Mornings@ANC.

Manzano also confirmed the disclosures last week of an American security expert that purchasing counterfeit materials such as DVDs, CDs, and cigarettes help fund terrorism.

“There is a growing list [of terrorists] who are using pirated DVDs, or counterfeit materials, for that matter, including cigarettes and luxury goods, as a source of soft funds. They call it soft funds because unlike in kidnap for ransom, drug pushing, money laundering, arms smuggling, these (pirated optical media products) have lesser penalties,” he said.

He said he raised the issue to Customs officials as early as 2004 and urged them to tighten the country’s coast lines. He said he received the information from Interpol.

He said that while he has no evidence linking terrorists to counterfeiting syndicates, the OMB has pieces of evidence that show that criminal groups are taking advantage of the proliferation of pirated optical media products.

He noted that illegal drugs such as shabu (metaphetamine hydrochloride) are placed inside CD cases, while hand grenades and ammunition are loaded in CD boxes to avoid detection.

He said it is for this reason that the OMB is closely working with Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and Firearms and the Philippine National Police when conducting raids.  

“The problem doesn’t stop with raids. It has to go further. Unfortunately, the OMB raids are not funded the same way other criminal pursuits are… Sometimes, we have to rely on stakeholders’ support. They come in and they provide us the logistical needs in terms of manpower,” he said.

Aside from lack of funds for its operations, Manzano said the current law is “outdated” with regard to addressing the problem, citing the "soft" penalties on piracy.

“We have to amend the law. We’re putting together a technical working group. We're asking the stakeholders’ participation… and hopefully we can incorporate that into our law,” he said.