Speaking before local and foreign delegates of the first Regional Conference on Optical Piracy last week at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel in Mandaluyong City, De Castro said Filipinos will reap a lot of benefits and opportunities if OMB will be able to remove the country from the watchlist.

Topping the benefits, De Castro said, are the privileges the Philippines will receive under the generalized system of privileges and the foreign investments to be made by companies that trade in intellectual property.

He said that the country will also benefit in terms of other opportunities that come with having a business climate conducive to the growth of creative industries — a stronger peso and lower prices for basic commodities.

"It will also mean more high-paying jobs for our college graduates and more employment opportunities in our nation," he added.

Established last year, the OMB, despite being a small government office, has been very active in bringing to the national consciousness the issues involved in optical disc piracy.

Citing statistics released by the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA), De Castro lauded the efforts made by OMB Chairman Edu Manzano, with the help of the business sector, in bringing down the piracy rates in nearly all industries over which the OMB has jurisdictional responsibility.

De Castro said piracy for movies decreased from 89 percent to 85 percent, while piracy for games dropped from 95 percent to 90 percent. For business softwares, the Vice President said the menace dipped from 72 percent to 70 percent.

"For a small agency that has been in existence for only a year, I must admit OMB did a good job," De Castro remarked.

The Philippines has been in the priority watchlist for almost eight years. However, the IIPA earlier recommended an out-of-cycle review, after which, if certain conditions are met by the government, a consideration to remove the country out of the priority watchlist of the United States Trade representative shall be given.