Manila: An official of the presidential palace who drew controversy last October after several high-powered guns were found in his car, is embroiled in another hullabaloo after he was seen buying DVDs believed to be pirated.
Ronald Llamas, political adviser to President Benigno Aquino, had been seen by Dana Policar, a local newspaper editor, purchasing DVDs of ‘pirated' movies at a mall in suburban Quezon City.
After seeing Llamas buy the DVDs, Policar published her account in her paper, the Bandera, owned by the Philippine Daily Inquirer, one of the country's biggest newspaper publishers.
According to Policar, Llamas bought a ‘stack' of pirated DVDs on Monday night.
"With his two barong [native formal wear]-clad security aides hovering nearby, Llamas seemed unfazed by the people who recognised him as a palace insider as he browsed through the illegal merchandise," Policar wrote.
She added that Llamas purchased some P2,000 (Dh169.63) of DVDs. Policar questioned the propriety of a government official — attached with an influential palace office at that — buying apparently illegal merchandise.
The Optical Media Board, the government regulators, said while buying pirate DVDs was not illegal, selling copies of video recordings was against the law.
