Here is the full official statement of Unesco Philippines Commission opposing imposition of book import duties. Profuse thanks to @mlq3 for posting the link on Twitter:
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Taxing Our Future: UNESCO Philippines on Imposition of Book Import Duties
May 23, 2009 By 39 Comments
great!
Who are the officials who authorized the book taxes? (I struck my original word, “morons”, though I retain the right to hold a personal opinion about the intellectual capacity of same.) Who appointed them? What elected official(s)oversee this person/people? Inquiring minds want to know where the buck stops, where the guilt rests, where the responsibility lies. Well, I do anyway. It is hard to cast shame without a name. Hard to throw (officials) out of office, too, if remain hidden behind the desk.
By the way, this is only one of many jacked-up taxes on foreigners, which I am sure most Filipino’s don’t really mind. But it is a backward policy if your goal is the creation of jobs and wealth, because they (“they” = investors) just pack their money off to more welcoming places.
The notion is simple. Take care of them, and they will return. Be rude, and they won’t. Jollibee gets it. The government does not.
Joe
What do we really want?
The customs duty removed?
Have the Usec of DOF who ordered the imposition of duties to be accountable? How?
Or do we want to push this to the highest level where we can’t export anything to those countries that imported us books?
restoration of the Florence Agreement. Which is the law.
error,should be:
export anything to those….we imported from
I know, so we don’t have to go to anything beyond that.(restoration of the Florence agreement)
How do we make the law not mere suggestions?
Well, I think the UNESCO stance is no duties, as reading advances any society. For myself, I would be happy with reason. I made the mistake of shipping myself three paperbacks and paid more for customs duties than I did for the books (new retail from Amazon). That is punitive and makes me think the Philippines does not welcome me, only wants its hand in my pocket. I have met again and again with offensive government people and practices, and am thankful that Filipinos themselves have been warm and kind. Otherwise, I’d be outta here . . . with my money and the jobs I bring.
Joe
Joe, UNESCO’s stance is no duties because that is the law. Philippines and several countries signed that agreement. It is my same stance in this issue.
These people in Power want us to be Ignorant. They tax books, so that
they are the only ones that can afford it.
for the sake of argument, let me say that maybe all they want is revenue, revenue and of course their own cut of that revenue pie. no duties mean the customs dude’s cut of 0% duties is 0 after all.
… daaaaang
… ay sus ginoo, have y’all read flip iskul book recently?
… erratum …
… flips need to demand better reference books…
… and i.yutin the admin ladrones garapales for their incompetence…
… i spent extra pesos for my ‘sang tambak na anak (sa labas) school books…
… and guess what? they are better and will grow up just like me, poging elitist/burgis…
… and the rest of y’all flips, you harden der…
Ang ginawa mo sana para makatipid, pinahuli mo ng dalawang taon iyon pinakamatanda at isang taon iyong sumunod para tatlo ay magkaklase at hiraman na lang ng libro. Ngayon, kung hindi sila magkakamukha at walang maniwalang magkakapatid, iba na kuwento na iyon.
If my memory serves me right it was the eminent Henry Kissinger, speaking at one of our premier universities years ago who called attention to how the reading habits, and skills of today’s youth have declined due to technological advancements like the ubiquity of television, digital cinema, and the Internet which are far easier and cheaper to access than buying hard copy reading materials, books in particular.
And now we have this book blockade being implemented by functionaries of the government of the day who, I will not be surprised to discover, likely have either porn flicks or comic books as bedside companions.
Harse?
Absolutely, given how they obviously have no love for reading, content at having their little brains atrophy.
But the buck stops with the incumbent President.
Either she exercises political will to honor our commitment to the Florence Agreement or be ready to have her inaction added to the list of her sins to the People.
(Disclosure: This commenter was a one-time member of the UNESCO National Commission for the Philippines)
Bullseye!
exactly.
ok so its another game of passing the buck
and perpetual redefining of command responsibility.
What did Teddy boy say,why this wont happen,was that Amor Propio?????
What is that,pride?
So that Hary Truman cliche never really stopped the cliche; passing the buck.
Well, I still would like to see the names of the people (in Finance, I believe) who decided it is more important to use books as tax fodder than care for the well-being of the people. I have come to the conclusion that the Philippine tax process is entirely short-term in its thinking, which is like driving a boat directly into the ice berg because that direction is west. Where is the conceptual notion that Customs should be developing the Philippines as a triving trade nation, not funding the deficit caused by all the hand-outs aimed at getting the entrenched re-elected.
I know Ms. Arroyo is responsible for everything, in the end. But all the Queen’s men need to be placed under spotlights, too. At least for the conscience-building that a good sweat can provide.
Joe
check out mlq3′s blog. there is a book blockade timelime with the documents and names by the officials involved.
Thank you.
Joe,
Undersecretary Sales is the main antagonist.
you can checkout @mlq3′s blog here: http://www.quezon.ph/2009/05/10/the-great-book-blockade-of-2009-timeline-and-readings/ great resource! he even has a whole list of blogs that have participated.
Thank you for the link and the name. That saves me a lot of browsing time.
Joe
… daaaang
… i never rely on flip govt for anything… i paid my taxes to be left alone… and that’s the extent of my relationship with the administration (ate glo&magnanakaws)…
… the massive flipland corruption is a formidable wall to penetrate… an outsider is most likely to be killed than making a difference…
… their latest scam to tax books is another thievery…
… i invest on kid’s education for them to be equal or ahead of the flip game… there are other venues available…
… flipland administration is useless…
If the law has been violated, what is the course of action that should follow?
If any official or agency of government is found to have abused his or its authority, what is the course of action that should follow?
After too many blogs on the same theme, what is to be the course of action to be taken, if any, absent any proposal or alternative offered?
We will go on and on griping about what this government has done to wreak havoc to an international agreement but unless the first step is taken, we have just release the steam off this heated discussion. The problem is still up high in its thermal heat.
… daaaang
… 50cc honda, standing by… for a price…
… padre damasos y ate glo&magnanakaws use ‘em… quite extensively…
Department of Finance
Department Order No. 17-09
24 March 2009
4.0 Guidelines
4.2 For importation under Section 105(s) of the TCCP, as amended, applicant/importer must show that:
(a) the imported books and/or publications are for economic, technical, vocational, scientific, philosophical, as herein defined; and,
(b) the imported books and/or publications are not for sale, barter or hire (their quantities do not exceed ten (10) copies of any work when imported by an institution and two (2) copies of any one work when imported by an individual).
4.3 For importation under the UNESCO Florence Agreement, applicant/importer must show that:
(a) that imported books are educational, scientific or cultural materials, as herein defined, covered by or listed in the Florence Agreement; and,
(b) the imported books and/or publications are not for sale, barter or hire (their quantities do not exceed ten (10) copies of any work when imported by an institution and two (2) copies of any one work when imported by an individual).
4.4 For importation under RA 8047, applicant/importer must show that:
(a) the books or raw materials to be imported shall be used for book publishing and its related activities as defined in Section 3(g)(i) of RA 8047;
(b) the importer is duly registered with the National Book Development Board (NBDB);
(c) the importer is duly authorized by the NBDB to make the importation; and,
(d) the NBDB shall certify as to the quality and volume of the imported books and raw materials.
—–
The preceding is a formatted text of the Guidelines (to be tax-exempt) portion of the scanned copy of the infamous department order downloaded from customsdotgovdotph.
What are the bases of the highlighted text in Guidelines 4.2 and 4.3?
In Guideline 4.4, I understand that this is DOF USec Estela V. Sales’ basis to limit tax exemption ONLY to books used for book publishing and its related activities?
R.A. 8047
Sec. 8. Powers and Functions. — The Governing Board shall have the following powers and functions:
(l) import books or raw materials used in book publishing which are exempt from all taxes, customs duties and other charges in behalf of persons and enterprises engaged in book publishing and its related activities duly registered with the Board;
…was this solely her idea which Teves believed to make a killing at customs?
Things could be moving…
http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/home/top-news/10755-palace-revisits-book-blockade-after-drawing-flak-from-un.html
nakakainis…
the implication is that the palace will only move if one draws criticism from a NONFILIPINO organization… ano ba!
DZMM breaking news… Arroyo has ordered the BOC is suspend the book importation tax collection thus lifting the book blockade!
Congratulation to the Book Blockade initiative people. What a wonderful force of energy they applied. Begnin0, take note.
Joe
to suspend, I meant…
Filipinos are courageous, determined and loyal.
Write about it.
Joe
Lifted.
Congratulations, bloggers and all!
Whose work was it?
DFA’s Office of Legal Affairs telling DOF it is in violation of the Florence Agreement?
Or, full-page newspaper manifesto yesterday from the protesting groups?
Or, the blogosphere?
Let it not be proved in some future time, that it was a ‘Trojan Horse’ that cheated government of much-need revenue.
what i hate about it is, there is no admission that they were WRONG. it comes out as a political decision, even when intellectually, it had no leg to stand on.
Yes. The tenor of any politician is to deny responsibility for untoward results. Filipino, American, Czech. They are all the same. The trick is to get the names and remember it around election time. Or earlier, as soon as one of the crustaceans raises his head out of the mud to plan for re-election. That is why it is important to identify the elected culprits here. Name the names, baby . . .
Joe
Just a passing thought.
We want foreign books to be exempt from import taxes, duties, levy.
How is that different if we invite the books’ authors to teach in our state colleges or universities with their books as prescribed for use? Are we to also exempt them all from having to receive their monthly salaries or any package of remuneration will be waived?
Come on.
Congratulation to the book blockade initiative people! You done a great job in protecting these organized capitalist syndicate. DOF/BOC did not file any case on importation of books by non-profit organizations (public libraries, educational institutions, school for the blinds) but to those private commercial enterprises (Bookstore) tax evaders for profit. Review your homework and check your conscience, for the love of our country! Thank you!!!
Matthew,
Thank you for your comment. I hope you get to read a lot more about the topics and issues we cover here at FilipinoVoices. Speaking of capitalism, we’ve many posts on it and on socialism in general. a list of those blog posts is here. Hope you get to read through it.
Cheers.