"Software piracy is depriving thousands of Filipinos of jobs in what would have been a very competitive local IT sector," noted PNP director General Jesus Versoza, who called for the support of all stakeholders in this aggressive campaign against software piracy. "The law enforcement effort is not enough without support from other sectors like local government units and the private sector," he said.

Admitting that the Philippine court system is proving to be a challenge in furthering this campaign against software piracy, John Lesaca, chairman of the Intellectual Property Coalition (IPC), said they are still continuously lobbying for the setting up of dedicated IP courts in the country which he says may be realized "hopefully soon."

Marquez shared that there have been between 20 to 25 software piracy cases in the country since 1995, but only three of which have so far been convicted. In a year, the PAPT conducts an average of between 8 to 10 raids of Internet cafes and companies using unlicensed software, most of which they have gotten through leads from the BSA hotline. BSA offers a reward of up to one million pesos for substantive reports of companies using unlicensed software.

According to Marquez, the BSA has constantly been providing seminars on software piracy for Department of Justice prosecutors, law enforcers and the rest of the PAPT team to make sure that they are on the same page with regard to copyright infringement. With the PAPT's objective to extend the campaign to other areas in the country, Marquez said they are hoping to get the support of LGUs to truly expand the coverage of this anti-software piracy drive.

"Businesses should practice professionalism, which includes being legal and ethical in their use of software. It is but right and proper that they invest on licenses software as they do with any other company asset and not put their company reputation at risk," said NBI director Nestor Mantaring.