Senator seeks OMB abolition

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian has filed a measure seeking to abolish the Optical Media Board (OMB), arguing that the agency has outlived its relevance as piracy has shifted from physical media to the digital space.

Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate committee on finance, said the OMB was designed to regulate a disc-based piracy industry that has largely disappeared.

“Instead of maintaining an agency whose mandate is no longer relevant to present conditions, it is better to allocate funds to agencies capable of responding to threats posed by new technology and the digital economy,” he said.

Under Senate Bill No. 1654, the OMB’s powers, functions and resources would be transferred to the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL).

The bill also provides for the absorption of OMB Secretariat employees into IPOPHL without any reduction in salaries or benefits.

Gatchalian said consolidating the OMB’s functions under IPOPHL would streamline intellectual property enforcement, allow the government to focus more squarely on digital piracy and strengthen enforcement using IPOPHL’s existing authority.

The proposal revives a long-running policy debate over the OMB’s future.

Over the years, lawmakers and industry stakeholders have repeatedly questioned the agency’s relevance as optical discs such as CDs and DVDs declined and as piracy increasingly migrated online.

Critics have argued that maintaining a separate agency focused on physical media no longer reflects the realities of the creative and digital economy, while supporters have previously raised concerns about institutional capacity and employee security.