The Badgers Abroad Blog

It’s New Year’s Eve in Cagayan de Oro, a city of 500,000 people on one of largest of the Philippine archipelago’s 7,107 islands. The pops and bangs of firecrackers join the usual jeepney honks and tricycle engine drones to make for a noisy night. The ubiquitous gun-toting security guard sits outside my hotel smoking a cigarette, as if he wasn’t already ingesting enough toxic chemicals from the steady barrage of vehicles careening down the streets. The predominantly Catholic Filipinos enthusiastically embrace Christmas, and the hotel lobby is a testament to that holiday spirit. A Christmas tree and two wreaths bring light, and red and green paper stars the sizes of stop signs add color to the otherwise nondescript setting.

After a meal at Jollibee, the Filipino archrival of McDonalds, that included the common rage-inducing occurrence of someone cutting in front of me in line, which was quickly neutralized by the very friendly, although thankfully not bubbly, demeanor of the young woman taking my order, I walked around the city looking for pirated DVDs, CDs, video games, and software. I’m researching intellectual property rights (IPR) enforcement in the country, so when I’m traveling outside of my base Manila, I try to take some time to get a feel for the level of pirated and counterfeit goods. Not surprisingly, I don’t have to venture far to find an alley packed with stalls of pirated DVDs and video games. As I walk by, I see a woman loading a DVD into a player hooked up to a TV so that a potential buyer can check out the quality of the recording. IPR infringement, after all, is a business here. Vendors often hand out their cell phone numbers and provide receipts. Two movies recently released in theaters in the States and other parts of Asia but not yet in the Philippines—“I Am Legend” and “Atonement”—stand out among other, older films such as “Stardust” and the single disks containing twelve or more films featuring Nicolas Cage. “DVDs, sir?” some vendors ask. I just shake my head and occasionally smile as I pass by.

I’m in the Philippines because I want to know why it’s still possible to buy pirated DVDs or software or counterfeit watches and bags. The country has for the most part enacted the necessary IPR legislation to comply with its international obligations. However, similar to other developing countries, the problem lies not in the laws on the books, but in the lack of enforcement of those laws. So in order to better understand the IPR enforcement situation, I’ve been meeting with people in business, government, and academia, attending government agency seminars and trainings, and reading extensively. The key reasons I’ve uncovered so far are ignorance and indifference among both government personnel and private citizens when it comes to IPR and larger systematic problems that plague the entire country such as an overburdened judicial system, a constitution that limits foreign competition in the economy, and a cultural tolerance of corruption.

Overall, I’ve had an incredible experience in the Philippines. The country’s unparalleled beauty, great weather, and overwhelming number of warm and friendly people make it a rewarding place to spend nine months. Most people overlook the Philippines as a tourist destination—they shouldn’t.