Quiapo, a heaven for pirated movies and software.
The Golden Mosque is situated in the heart of the Muslim district. Here you can find hundreds of shops and stalls selling pirated DVDs, VCDs and CDs for as low as 15 pesos. You can purchase whatever movie you want from the latest Hollywood movie to hardcore porn. Every imaginable software program is here on sale. Photoshop, Lightroom, Windows XP, Vista, you name it, they got it. It is a huge business and the counterfeit items are openly sold.
In 2004, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo enacted Republic Act 9239 or the Optical Media Act.
Those found violating RA 9239 faced a maximum penalty of P1.5 million in fines and six years imprisonment.
But when you visit Quiapo you can see with your own eyes how this illegal trade is still flourishing and it is obvious that it is tolerated by the authorities and the police.
Taking pictures here is definitely not recommended! It is quite tricky if not plain dangerous. I tried it and it was met with anger. One shop owner started shouting at me and soon a little mob assembled. I didn’t understand what they were saying but I moved on as quickly as I could… I guess they thought I was working for the FBI. ;-)
Anyway, in the spirit of honesty, I have to state that except from this incident that I provoked I never encountered any problem. People are generally friendly and I didn’t got a feeling of insecurity. I was even invited in one small eatery for a chat with some of my Muslim brothers.
I managed to take some snapshots and then moved back to the side of Quiapo Church where non Muslim Filipinos are basically selling exactly the same pirated movies and software. It was much more easy to take pictures there.

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