Greenhills Shopping Center has long been a Manila retail landmark, a sprawl of bargain electronics, glittering jewelry counters, and maze-like tiangge stalls that draw shoppers hunting for deals. For decades, it has thrived on volume, variety, and word-of-mouth reputation.
But in Washington’s trade reports, it has become shorthand for counterfeit commerce.
On March 3, the Office of the United States Trade Representative released its 2025 Notorious Markets List, naming Greenhills among 32 physical markets worldwide identified as allegedly engaging in or facilitating substantial trademark counterfeiting and copyright piracy.
The report describes a large mall with numerous storefronts selling suspected counterfeit electronics, perfumes, watches, shoes, accessories, and fashion items, goods that mimic global brands at a fraction of the price.
The designation is not a legal finding, USTR stresses, but it is a pointed signal.
Philippine authorities, working with rights holders, have conducted enforcement raids at the mall. Management says it has enforced a three-strikes policy against vendors caught selling counterfeit goods and removed nearly 300 stalls over the past year for violations. Those are tangible steps and a recognition that scrutiny is intensifying.
Still, rights holders report that significant volumes of counterfeit merchandise persist.
The Philippine government, through the National Committee on Intellectual Property Rights, is pushing a transition program to reposition Greenhills as a legitimate high-end retail destination. A pilot intellectual property help desk, coordinated with mall management and the San Juan city government, is also being planned.
With global attention sharpening on piracy and counterfeit trade, Greenhills faces a defining test. It can recast itself as a model of compliance or remain a case study in imitation.
