A bill filed in the Senate seeks to abolish the Optical Media Board (OMB), which has become outdated amid the decline of disc-based media and the rise of digital technology.

Senator Win Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate Committee on Finance, said the OMB’s mandate, primarily focused on regulating compact discs and digital versatile discs, was no longer relevant in today’s digital economy.

“Designed for a disc-based piracy economy, the OMB is no longer the optimal agency to address the challenges of a digital age,” Gatchalian said in a statement on Saturday.

He added that maintaining an agency whose mandate no longer aligns with current realities is an inefficient use of government resources.

“Instead of maintaining an agency whose mandate no longer aligns with the present times, it would be better to allocate funds to agencies that are capable of responding to the challenges of modern technology and the digital economy,” Gatchalian explained.

Powers transferred

Under Senate Bill 1654, the OMB would be abolished, with its powers, functions, and resources transferred to the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL).

The measure also provides for the absorption of OMB Secretariat employees into IPOPHL without any reduction in salaries, benefits, or tenure.

According to Gatchalian, consolidating the OMB’s functions under IPOPHL would streamline intellectual property enforcement, shift the government’s focus toward combating digital piracy, and strengthen enforcement efforts by leveraging IPOPHL’s existing authority and institutional capacity.

The senator said the proposal aims to improve government efficiency while ensuring stronger protection of intellectual property rights in the digital era.