The Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA) recently led raids in the Philippines targeting pirate pay-TV operators there.

There were police raids on cable companies in Mindanao on September 21, and in Metro Manila on September 23 and 26. The recent CASBAA-instigated raids on renegade cable operators were undertaken in co-operation with the National Bureau of Investigation of the Philippines (NBI). CASBAA CEO Simon Twiston Davies said the actions will help legitimate law-abiding Filipino cable and satellite TV operators.

According to Davies, piracy in the Philippines is a major issue. He said that CASBAA’s data shows aggregated industry losses in the Philippines for 2004 were $70 million. Its preliminary estimates for 2005 indicate that this figure has increased significantly. CASBAA data showed 880,000 legitimate and 650,000 illegitimate cable and satellite TV subscribers in the Philippines in 2004. According to CASBAA, the number of illegitimate users has worsened so far in 2005.