The Philippine Online Chronicles

Presidential adviser on political affairs Ronald Llamas was caught on camera perusing pirated DVDs in Circle C mall along Congressional Avenue on Tuesday evening.

Dona Policar, a writer for Bandera, personally witnessed Llamas browsing in a DVD stall in the mall. The presidential adviser took around 30 minutes—7:30 to 8:00 PM—to select titles and purchase them. The stall vendor confirmed that Llamas bought DVDs totaling PhP2,000 in value.

President Benigno Aquino III downplayed the incident, saying that there were other priorities.

“There is the Makati bomb blast, there is the massacre of fishermen in Basilan, and we have the tensions in Iran. We have so many problems now. DVD piracy is a little low in our priority list,” Aquino said yesterday during a press conference in Iligan City, where he launched a resettlement site for Sendong victims.

Optical Media Board chair Ronnie Ricketts, while disappointed, explained that there is nothing the government can do when pirated DVDs are bought.

There are currently no laws in place to punish buyers of pirated DVDs.