San juan city: An official of the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) expressed optimism for a greater drive against counterfeits and related violations following the launch of the National Committee on Intellectual Property Rights (NCIPR) Help Desk at Greenhills Shopping Center in San Juan City on Monday.

According to Philippines News Agency, IPOPHL Deputy Director General lawyer Nathaniel Arevalo told journalists after the launch that the IP rights hub will have some impact on the government's bid to remove Greenhills Shopping Center from the US Trade Representative's (USTR) notorious market report. "We believe that (it will have an impact) and it is part of our objective. And in fact, one of our targets is that by 2027, it will be removed from the notorious market listing," he said.

Arevalo stated that the establishment of the IP Rights Help Desk at the Greenhills Shopping Center in San Juan is a strategic move aimed at addressing these concerns. He mentioned that representatives from NCIPR-member agencies and groups would be stationed at the IP hub to assist consumers and other stakeholders.

"This will be the pilot test," Arevalo noted, though he declined to provide specifics on the timeline or locations for additional hubs in the future. He emphasized that the agency intends to conduct more anti-counterfeiting activities this year, with collaboration from other government agencies and business groups.

Reflecting on the previous year's performance, Arevalo revealed that the agency confiscated almost PHP30 billion worth of counterfeit items, marking a decrease of about 27 percent from the record-high PHP40.99 billion in 2025. Despite the decline, he refrained from setting a target for this year, citing the events of the previous year as a consideration. He remarked that the decrease in the value of confiscated counterfeit items occurred despite an increase in anti-counterfeit operations conducted last year.