When I was in fourth year college, I did a research on music piracy for our Religion class. And I went to Quiapo in order to make some observations. Also, I’ve heard that there were a lot of hard-to-find DVDs there according to reliable sources. They go there to buy the goods, rip it, and burn it to VCD’s so that it can be sold to the movie freaks. At that time, Quiapo was the best piracy haven. It is where you can buy relatively cheap DVD’s and then probably getting yourself mobbed or getting your cellphone snatched. Just this morning, me and my brother went to Makati Cinema Square to buy some DVD’s.

As we went inside the mall, at the basement in particular, I’ve seen a lot of stalls. They were side by side and each stall does not run out of any customer. They have a lot of movies to choose from. From, documentaries, classics, chick flicks, concerts to Asian films, TV series, animes and other noteworthy films that are not part of mainstream cinema.

We went up the ground floor, and saw some other stalls there side by side. I saw a copy of Supersize Me and I didn’t know that someone would have the interest to pirate documentaries. I bought a copy of it for only 80 bucks. This is better than going to Quiapo. Besides, it’s a lot nearer and it’s more accessible.

Then, we went back at the basement. A certain stall there has catched my attention. They were selling TV series such as CSI, The Simpsons, Friends, Angel, Sex and the City, and a lot more. I was impressed by their packaging. At that instant, I was tempted to buy the complete set of The Simpsons. Thinking that I was already there, I went to the ATM, withdraw the amount that I needed and the rest is history. Now, I have a copy of the whole set of The Simpsons. Not only that, I got a free DVD of my choice since my brother is good in bargaining. The DVD that I got is Fahrenheit 9/11 and my brother also bought the complete season 1 of Friends.

I hope that they will soon have a copy of A Clockwork Orange, Requiem for a Dream, American History X, and all the other movies that I want to watch. And to those who are far from Quiapo, you do not need to go there anymore just to buy some DVDs. All you have to do is go to Makati Cinema Square. But when in doubt if they have this certain film or not, you already know what to do.