GRAY MARKET
Are you looking for a DVD copy of the latest DC or Marvel film (probably not yet shown in cinemas)? Affordable appliances? “Legal” documents? Then Quiapo is the place to be.
One of the reasons why Quiapo was said to have lost its former glory is because of its not-quite-underground black market. In an online survey conducted in 2003, 80% of the respondents said Quiapo meant “cheap, pirated music and digital video” (De Mesa 125), while a travel enthusiast calls it “fake territory” (“Quiapo Stroll”). A report by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) on December 20, 2011 in its “Review of Notorious Markets” seems to support this observation, specifically citing Quiapo as “just one example of several locations and neighborhoods, especially in metropolitan Manila, known to deal in counterfeiting pirated goods such as clothing, shoes, watches, handbags, and software.” The Philippines has been removed from the Notorious Markets list since 2012 (Desiderio), but it had been part of the list for six years before its removal (Saclag).
“Quiapo DVDs.” Photo by Ermelo Villarreal Jr.
Just a few years ago, pirated DVDs and CDs swamped the northbound Quezon Boulevard area, across the Quiapo Church. There was even a mall-like place on Arlegui St. where one could shop for Korean drama series, Hollywood TV series, documentaries, adult videos, and almost all popular films (including Filipino classics) for a slice of the supposed original price. The size of the business could perhaps be measured by the results of just a couple of raids—one in 2011 when teams led by the Optical Media Board (OMB) busted a building in San Agustin, Quiapo, containing “piles of pirated DVD copies of movies and music albums” and 5 replicating machines that could produce 1000 discs/day (Aguilon); and another in 2013 when a shakedown led by the OMB and Manila Police District units yielded pirated discs worth P24 million (“Another Quiapo”). The digital piracy business declined in the recent years through the efforts of the government and also via the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (Desiderio), and perhaps because of the advent of social networking sites and relative ease and convenience of downloading films, music, and other digital entertainment and information through the Internet.
Presently, a few itinerant stalls on this side of Quezon Blvd. still offer these pirated discs, giving the impression that the business is indeed on the down low, but the films on display are just samples that could lead to a hoard if the customer shows interest—case in point is another Quiapo raid conducted by the OMB and the PNP National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) in August 2016 that led to the confiscation of replicating machines and pirated DVDs amounting to P112 million (“P100-M Worth”). The persistence of media piracy in Southeast Asian emerging economies, according to Ballano, is due to affordability (very cheap), poverty (source of livelihood), and weak legal market, copyright laws, and law enforcement system (9).
A NEWS REPORT on the P100-M Pirated DVD Raid. Video posted by Unang Balita, GMA News
KALYE: Mga Kwento ng Lansangan
Side by side these “small” DVD stalls are those selling Tagalog romance pocketbooks, toys, jewelry, and other trinkets. In the same area are shops selling bicycles and cycling equipment for both children and adults, clothes/RTW, and furniture and other household items at bargain prices.
A few steps from the Quiapo Church is Raon (known as an “electronics hub”), where one would find emporiums selling cheap appliances and various gadgets, stores offering security guard/police/military uniforms (both ready-to-wear and made-to-order) and supplies (dog tags, badges, combat boots, Swiss knives, etc.), and audiophile implements (very popular, as evidenced by the Raon Online website), fishing equipment, badminton and tennis supplies, and other hobbyists/sports paraphernalia. Several sidewalk stalls in Raon offer fake “legal documents,” a spillage from what is called “Recto University”—after C. M. Recto Ave. which spans the University Belt —where documents like college and university diplomas, academic theses, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) red ribbon, Land Transportation Office (LTO) driver’s license, student Certificate of Registration (COR), and receipts for whatever purposes can be had for two hours at the most (Garcia). Even a marriage annulment package that includes court decision, annotated marriage certificate, and Certificate of No Marriage (CENOMAR) is offered in Recto (Santos) and Raon.
ELECTRONIC equipment in Raon. Photo by I Heart Quiapo
A POLICE and security officers’ uniform store in Raon. Photo by The Urban Roamer.
The Lacson Underpass, immediately accessible from Plaza Miranda and Quiapo Church on Quezon Blvd. (among other entry/exit points), was described a few years ago as “a makeshift shelter for the homeless, resulting in an ‘eyesore’ and ‘haven’ for criminal elements” (Ramos-Araneta) and “dark, dirty, and which people feared entering” (Teves), and rightly so. A few stalls had offered their goods on the underpass, but perhaps only the most familiar with the area would brave the place. After renovations spearheaded by the Manila Local Government Unit and Victory Malls, the underpass has since October 14, 2014 been called Victory Lacson Underpass: the dingy place is now a well-lit, fully-airconditioned site reported to house 26 regular stalls, 105 micro-retail or “tiangge”stalls, 36 kiosks, 4 ATMs, and 19 food carts (ib.) selling sundry items such as cosmetics, medicines, clothes, etc.
“STEPS of the Lacson Underpass 2011.” Photo by The Urban Roamer.
THE VICTORY Lacson Underpass. Photo by the Urban Roamer.
BANNED Indonesian Herbal Drink Sold in Victory Lacson Underpass.
Photo by EcoWaste Coalition.
Quiapo: Barely Underground
Benigno C. Montemayor, Jr. | November 12, 2017
Quiapo’s reputation has been tarnished in the passing of time. It is not known whether the Manila LGU’s efforts to revive the district is enough. What is certain though is that Quiapo needs the community to regain its faded glory.
WORKS CITED
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Ballano, Vivencio O. Sociological Perspectives on Media Piracy in the Philippines and Vietnam. Springer, 2016.
De Mesa, Karl R. “Street Magic.” Quiapo: Heart of Manila. Edited by Fernando Nakpil Zialcita. The Cultural Heritage Studies Program-ADMU and Metropolitan Manila Museum, 2016. pp. 125-147.
Desiderio, Louella. “Quiapo Dropped from US list of Piracy Centers.” The Philippine Star, 18 Dec. 2012, www.philstar.com/headlines/2012/12/18/887332/quiapo-dropped-uslist-piracy-centers. Accessed 28 Oct. 2017.
EcoWaste Coalition. “EcoWaste Coalition Deplores Illegal Trade of Banned IndonesianMade Herbal Drink in Quiapo, Manila.” EcoWaste Coalition, 09 Apr. 2015, ecowastecoalition.blogspot.com/2015/04/ecowaste-coalition-deplores-illegal.html. Accessed 02 Nov. 2017.
Garcia, Robert Jon L. “‘Recto University’: You Name It, They Have It!” inquirer.net, 28 Feb. 2014, lifestyle.inquirer.net/152690/recto-university-you-name-it-they-have-it/. Accessed 28 Oct. 2017.
“P100-M Worth of Pirated DVDs Confiscated in Quiapo.” GMA News Online, 03 Aug. 2016, www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/metro/576139/p100-m-worth-of-pirated-dvdsconfiscated-in-quiapo/story/. Accessed 01 Nov. 2017.
“Out-of-Cycle Review of Notorious Markets.” Office of the United States Trade Representative, 20 Dec. 2011, ustr.gov/sites/default/files/uploads/gsp/speeches/reports/2011/Notorious%20Markets%20List%20FINAL.pdf. P5.
Prudente, Bobet. “Discover Quiapo.” Hubpages.com, 27 May 2014, hubpages.com/travel/ discover-quiapo. Accessed 28 Oct. 2017.
“Quiapo and More…” weebly.com, 01 May 2014, iheartquiapo.weebly.com/blog/hindi-langpo-ito-tungkol-sa-quiapo. Accessed 01 Nov. 2017.
“Quiapo Stroll: Raon.” Philippine Travel Notes, 18 Mar. 2011, philippinetravelnotes.blogspot.com/2011/03/quiapo-stroll-raon.html. Accessed 30 Oct. 2017.
Ramos-Araneta, Macon. “ Victory Lacson Underpass Opens.” manilastandard.net, 15 Oct. 2014,
manilastandard.net/news/metro/160271/victory-lacson-underpass-opens.html. Accessed 28 Oct. 2017.
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Santos, Ana P. “Recto: Certified Fake.” Rappler.com, 08 Jan. 2016, www.rappler.com/newsbreak/investigative/117261-part-6-recto-fake-annulment-philippines. Accessed 28 Oct. 2017.
Summitron, Raygin. Raon Online, raon-online.com. Accessed 28 Oct. 2017.
Teves, Catherine J. “Manila Reinvents Historic Lacson Underpass.” Philippine Canadian Inquirer, 14 Oct. 2014, www.canadianinquirer.net/2014/10/14/manila-reinvents-iconic-lacson-underpass/. Accessed 28 Oct. 2017.
“The Saga of the (Victory) Lacson Underpass.” The Urban Roamer.com, 20 Oct. 2014, www.theurbanroamer.com/victory-lacson-underpass/. Accessed 02 Nov. 2017.
“The Urban Roamer’s Quiapo Shopping Guide (Part 1).” The Urban Roamer.com, 13 Jan. 2013, www.theurbanroamer.com/the-urban-roamers-quiapo-shopping-guide-part-1/. Accessed 01 Nov. 2017.
“UB: Mahigit P100-M Halaga ng Pirated DVD, Nakumpiska sa Quiapo, Manila.” Youtube, uploaded by GMA News, 02 Aug. 2016, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bABC_7wOI5g. Accessed 01 Nov. 2017.
Villareal, Ermelo Jr. “Quiapo DVD’s.” Flickr, 02 Jan. 2009, www.flickr.com/photos/ melovillareal/3162485214/. Accessed 01 Nov. 2017.
“LACSON Underpass 2011.” Photo by The Urban Roamer.