THE government captured P23.6 billion of pirated and counterfeit goods last year—an all-time-high record—on the back of strong police operations against fake cigarettes and alcohol.
The total haul of the interagency National Committee on Intellectual Property Rights (NCIPR) in 2018 increased nearly 188 percent to P23.6 billion, from P8.2 billion in 2017. According to the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL), this was the best performance of the NCIPR since it was formed in 2008.
Confiscated fake cigarettes and alcohol amounted to P20.25 billion and P3 million, respectively, and accounted for the lion’s share or almost 86 percent of the total haul.
Further, authorities captured P1.2 billion worth of counterfeit pharmaceutical and personal-care items, as well as knockoff handbags and wallets valued at P821 million. They were also able to seize P790 million of pirated optical media.
According to the IPOPHL, the case was far different in 2017, when consumer electronics made up bulk of the P8.2 billion of captured items.
Among enforcement agencies, the Bureau of Customs hauled in the largest stash of goods at P11 billion, followed by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) at P5.3 billion and the Philippine National Police (PNP) at P1.4 billion. The Optical Media Board seized all of the pirated optical media, while the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) netted P5.8 million of goods.
Joint operations of the agencies, on the other hand, brought in P5 billion to the total haul.
The NBI, PNP and FDA filed a total of 143 cases in operating against pirated products. This was coupled with 82 arrests in relation to counterfeiting carried out by the PNP and FDA.
IPOPHL Director General Josephine R. Santiago attributed the NCIPR’s record-high capture to brand owners who were vigilant in going after manufacturers of fake products.
“In terms of enforcement, 2018 has proven to be a banner year with the NCIPR, spearheaded by [the] IPOPHL and [the] DTI [Department of Trade and Industry], capturing record levels of counterfeit goods. Consistent with the trend we’ve seen all year, fake cigarettes and alcohol led this record haul—the formula for which we believe is the firm determination and vigilance of brand owners to pursue these counterfeiters,” Santiago said in a news release.
She said it was expected that counterfeiters will shift to the production of fake cigarettes and alcohol with higher taxes on sin products in place. The target this year, Santiago declared, is to charge in court these illegal traders. She said “bringing them to justice, coupled with the public’s active rejection of counterfeits, will complete the formula to sustain this crusade in 2019.”