MANILA, Philippines – More than P80 million worth of seized counterfeit products were destroyed yesterday by the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Intellectual Property Office Philipines (IPOPHL).
Among the items destroyed were P58 million worth of watches, lotions, bags and soap; P500,000 worth of fake food seasoning and wheels; and 20,000 pirated DVDs valued at P7 million, seized by the Optical Media Board.
IPOPHL deputy director general Teodoro Pascua and PNP officer-in-charge Lt. Gen. Francis Gamboa led the ceremonial destruction at Camp Crame.
Pascua cited the coordination and collaboration among the members of the National Committee on Intellectual Property Rights (NCIPR), saying that the internet has created a big avenue for the trade and distribution of fake products in the country.
The NCIPR seized a total of P13.74 billion worth of counterfeit products from January to July this year.