Co-Sponsorship Remarks
Senate Bill No. 1654 under Committee report No. 34
Abolition of Optical Media Board (OMB)
March 3, 2026
Mr. President, this representation rises to co-sponsor Senate Bill No. 1654 under Committee Report No. 34 or “An Act Abolishing the Optical Media Board.”
As one of the authors of this measure, I sincerely thank our good friend, Sen. Robinhood Padilla, Chairperson of the Committee on Public Information and Mass Media, for finally bringing this Committee Report to the plenary.
The predecessor of the OMB, the Videogram Regulatory Board (VRB), was created under Presidential Decree No. 1987 in the year 1985 to address the proliferation and unregulated circulation of videotapes and casettes which adversely affected the operations of movie houses. As stated in the presidential decree, due to unauthorized replication and distribution of film content using such media, theatrical attendance dropped by at least 40% and there had been substantial losses estimated at P450 million annually in government revenues.
VRB was later recognized into the Optical Media Board under Republic Act No. 9239, otherwise known as the “Optical Media Act of 2003” following the fact that videotapes and similar technologies were hardly ever used, and illegal copying transitioned to compact discs.
OMB had been at the forefront in the fight against film piracy, which significantly helped the recovery of the ailing local movie industry. Naalala po natin ang kanilang ginawang mga raid sa Quiapo, sa Divisoria, maging sa Greenhills, San Juan, at sa iba’t ibang bagsakan at mga pugad ng pirated DVDs at VCDs, gayundin ang kanilang pag-bulldozer at pag-wasak sa mga nakumpiskang kontrabando.
Bilang isa sa tagapagtaguyod sa pelikulang Pilipino, lubos po akong nagpapasalamat sa Optical Media Board sa pagbibigay nila ng kinakailangang lifeline at saklolo sa minamahal nating industriya, lalo noong panahon na talamak ang pamimirata. Malaki ang naging bahagi nila sa kahit paano ay muling pagsigla ng pelikula at muling pagtangkilik ng mga manonood sa sinehan.
But given today’s rapid technological advancements, the current media landscape where online streaming reigns supreme, and content is literally at our fingertips, the Optical Media Board has simply lost its function. Optical media are considered obsolete, and are no longer utilized as widely as in the past. It did not help that during our series of interrogations during the budget hearings, the OMB showed dismal performance in the previous years – posting steady decline in the value of seized items, and as low as zero administrative cases filed at one point.
As this august chamber is empowered to create new offices and departments in order to address current problems, so too can we abolish non-performing entities, and bodies which are no longer necessary and do not serve a beneficial public purpose.
Bagama’t ipinapanukala natin ang tuluyang pagsasara o pagbubuwag ng OMB, hindi natin binibitawan ang problema ng pamimirata, na sa tingin natin ay nananatiling isang seryosong problema ng bansa. Sa pagtaya ng Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL), posibleng umabot sa isang bilyong dolyar ($1 billion) ang nawalang kita para sa taong 2025 dahil sa video piracy.
In addition, personnel affected by the OMB abolition will still be absorbed by another government agency without diminution of their salaries and benefits. Sa ilalim ng Committee Report na ito, tinitiyak na walang empleyadong mawawalan ng trabaho. At the appropriate time, this representation wishes to propound clarificatory questions to our good sponsor about this specific provision.
Mr. President, passage of this bill signifies the chamber’s commitment to attuning our legal instruments to the needs and challenges of the times. It also demonstrates our sincerity to restructuring our bureaucracy to make it more efficient, effective, and responsive to urgent problems.
Maraming salamat po, Ginoong Pangulo.
