I’m so FRAKING ashamed to be a blogger right now. I’m so FRAKING ashamed to be Filipino right now.
Have you seen what’s being posted here on FV the past few days? Have you seen what’s being discussed on Radio and Television and on Print?
A week back, Martin Nievera’s terrible singing was so bad— it broke the law.
Makes for great kuwento.
All this talk about FRAKING credibility and identity on blogs and whatnut? Minutia. Doesn’t matter.
What fraking drama.
All this talk about road rage and entitlements? Minutia.
Will you people get fraking over yourselves?
Where are you Jun Lozada? Where are you Erap Estrada? Where are you Cory Aquino? Where are you Kris Aquino? Where are you Filipino Blogger? Where are you educators? Where are you De La Salle Brothers? Where are you book lovers? Where are you Old Media? Where are you Moms? Where are you Dads?
Where are you Ako Mismo?
You people make me sick.
The fraking country is breaking international law and in the processes is screwing up education, is screwing up culture and people are worried about entitlements.
Thank you Miriam Santiago. Thank you Mar Roxas. Thank you Teddy Boy, Jr. And awesome work @mlq3 and Robin Hemley. You people are standing up. HELL there are foreigners who are standing by this issue of The Great Book Blockade. It isn’t about taxes. It is about this:
the free exchange of ideas and knowledge and, in general, the widest possible dissemination of the diverse forms of self-expression used by civilizations are vitally important both for intellectual progress and international understanding, and consequently for the maintenance of world peace;
Considering that this interchange is accomplished primarily by means of books, publications and educational, scientific and cultural materials;
Considering that the Constitution of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization urges co-operation between nations in all branches of intellectual activity, including `the exchange of publications, objects of artistic and scientific interest and other materials of information’ and provides further that the Organization shall `collaborate in the work of advancing the mutual knowledge and understanding of peoples, through all means of mass communication and to that end recommend such international agreements as may be necessary to promote the free flow of ideas by word and image’ ;
Recognize that these aims will be effectively furthered by an international agreement facilitating the free flow of books, publications and educational, scientific and cultural materials;
Where are you, Juan dela Cruz? Where are you Maria Clara? When everyone is supposed to be pro-education:
Book Blockade Petition
Too few people are standing up and signing the petition.
This isn’t about people stealing anything from government. This is our government being idiotic. You want a better country? Stop rolling over and playing dead when the issue isn’t about who stole from government’s treasury. There are far worst things that can happen to the Filipino. Stand up! People in government are stealing our culture and opportunities kids may have. I’m bloody ashamed that when it comes down to the important moments, we Filipinos balk.
Popularity: 1% [?]
relax ka lang. baka ma-heart attack ka.
Manny Villar for 2010-President???
Attaboy, Cocoy! Anger is a mark of acceptance! You were in denial when I was in your blogsite. You booted me out set off by that punk who work at Seafood City cleaning fishes and your ignorant oblivious ilk!
You didn’t ban me! You ordered me out! I could have reincarnated myself as Chuckie and bash all your commentators to hell but I did not. What’s the use dealing with your ignorant oblivious commentators.
And now, I infected you with my very own virus. Goodness! Screaming, shouting, flailings is normal, Cocoy, when Filipinos cannot change.
Filipinos cannot change in our lifetime until we behead all these idiot coin-operated pekeng-peryodistas. We cannot change Filipinos untl we do a Marcos. Does anyone remember here when that chinese drug dealer in the early days of Martial law was executed before firing squad. It sent chill to drug dealers up to their spine that Marcos meant businesses.
Goodness, Cocoy, welcome to the club. I’ll share my lithium with you.
which seafood city do you goto?
That punk claimed to be in National City in California.
I remember a couple of T-shirts I wore in the late 70s:
“Go not gently into the night, but rage, rage against the dying of the light”.
And..
“Kung hindi tayo kikilos, SINO. Kung Hindi ngayon, KAILAN?” With an image of the Oblation.
I think this article is cocoy’s “PRIMAL SCREAM”.
Keep on going dude – straight up high five homeyz.
“me syndrome” time.
If I gave you the impression of rolling over and playing dead on one of my comments in the previous blog, allow me to have my say.
I only want to give a glimmer of hope. ok call it curing the symptom instead of the disease.
an analgesic for cancer or wat eva.
I fully understand where you are coming from.
About apathy.
Would replacing the prefix “a” with ” emp” and “symp” be called as sweeping it under the rug?
Aren’t you also sympathizing and empathizing as well? after you have made your point, what’s next.
I am not asking you to put up or shut up, because you can do whatever you want;but I am interested in how you will support those who stood up, so they won’t return to their chairs.
What is the bottom line or the worst penalty we can get for violating the treaty?
a sanction? a trade blockade?
because that is what they do to the war freaks(human rights violators) and nuclear weapon concealing countries.
I think a trade blockade would make it multiple double jeopardy.
then if we add to that the international humantarian law pending in congress.
since we are officially reported as a human rights violator.
another sanction would be multiple double jeopardy plus one.
Sa kangkungan na tayo pupulutin.
I think habang di pa nasosolve itong problema magkaroon ng simultaneous campaign to encourage people to read.
dahil tulad ng sinabi ni renato; filipino’s are not the reading types.
so lets fight to have those imported books locked in the customs warehouses to be reassessed and have zero import duties and get them out of the damn warehouses, so it can be transferred to the warehouses of the book store owners.
But let us encourage people to buy books,dahil hindi nga naman palabasa ang mga tao.
If literacy is another problem, let’s solve that as well.
ika nga sabi ni ruel vernal sa unang commercial ng red horse beer sa pinas :
“Kaya natin to.”
at sa isa pang commercial ng isang bata na di nasali sa basketbol team na sinabi din ng RAM SFP:
“Our dreams will Never Die.”
Hehehe, cocoy. Applause! You sound like Alanis Morisette here — ala …”thank you India. thank you providence. thank you disillusionment…”
i know she’s a singer but never really listened to her songs.
It could be a chicken-and-egg thing. Because we Pinoys are not renowned for our book reading, the impact of developments like this do not capture the general public’s awareness.
Then it becomes self-perpetuating. As books become less accessible, the masses gets even deeper in knowledge deprivation, further reducing popular awareness around accessibility to high quality reading material.
It’s a spiralling case of Dumb and Dumber — a vortex of exponentially increasing collective stupidity fuelled not just by this book accessibility issue but also by the alternatives that fill this knowledge void in Pinoy society: bad movies, mediocre music, copycat arts scene, shallow pulp fiction, petty politics, etc. So much noise that captures vacuous minds and diverting attention to the important and substantial.
“from the important and substantial” pala. :D
yeah. sad but true.
mlq3 directed me to your rant. Thank god. Also, thank you for the link to thepetionsite.com. I’m trying to tell everyone I know whom I think can exert more pressure (or at least pressure from more sides of society).
CaliCat are you the same calicat on plurk? or do you have a twitter account? i have been floating some thoughts on how best to raise not just awareness on book tax but also how best to encourage reading.
Cocoy:
Would you be interested in supporting someone who is already in the thick of organizing a reading contest for the elem and public high schools?
She has reached out for more support – her target area at the moment is Northern Luzon. Focal point of activities will be the cities of Laoag, Vigan, and Carmen,Pangasinan.
We can help her in terms of providing prices to the winners – she specifically requested for brand new books for the winners of the Interpretive Reading Competition.
If you are up to it – I’ll hook you up with the organizer.
Bong, you got email, plurk or twitter? so we can talk about this privately? maybe integrate these ideas together?
cocoy:
you can email
this will go to the email address I use when signing up online. I’ll reply from the email address I use for private correspondence.
to BongV: am in…. $$$ for prizes for the book-reading contest. am sending you e-mail so you connect me to organizer.
sure thing – send an email my way – i’ll hook you up with the person who requested support – this is her website by the way
cocoy:
Now you are talking!
Cocoy,
Don’t sound like you’re the next to go, please.
There is just no such thing as an “Intellectual Reserve Army” – just nothing.
Live up to the challenge, others are just waiting on the wings. We will join you.
i’m not leaving anytime soon. i believe too much on the ideal that is FV.
If you want to improve something. Post on the Web Blog with sense.
It is easy to point faults, see something is wrong or cast aspersion
to any personality. Or, Post some nonsense.
However, giving good informations. Posting on the Web Blog for some
sensible solutions to our problem takes effort. You cannot build
by tearing everything you see apart…
benign0 is correct! Filipinos are not the reader types. Like what I’ve been saying, I used to live in this city called Los Angeles, I forgot what country. Anyways, Filipinos are the 2nd most populating minorities in Los Angeles next to Hispaniolas. My home-away-from-home is sprinkled with 5 City of Los angeles Public Library. Before I go into my usual harangue, Los Angeles Public Library has the largest collection of books outside of Library of Congress! Use your imagination how huge LAPL is.
I go almost daiily to LAPL after work as a slave to check-out movies and music CDs to rip and burn. Inside the library I see bad-speakengese-englischtzes hispanics, koreaneses, chineses, indianeses BUT NO FLIPS!!!!!!
Why would Flips go to library? Theere’s no need for Flips to go to library! They are already intelligentist in the world!
They speakenegese goot englischtzes! They are already have degrees, thanks to Philippine fast-trak educational system! Most of all, dey claimed to be above anyone else in intellligence and iQ! SO THEY CLAIMED!!!!
Man… you have so much in your mind as a blogger. Maybe it is time to get out of the house and spend time with your friends and socialize a bit and just think about having fun…fun…fun. The quote that life’s too short too even worry about anything is always there.
I thought Pinoys are always so good at taking things lightly even if they have a bucketful of problems. The attitude of “Sige lang!” is not that bad and why be so serious, mamamatay sa konsumisyon so, you just have to take things easy. So, it must be easier to die happy than die consumido.
Don’t worry too much about the government as it will always be there to create peace, disorder, creative havoc and unreasonable money juggling and or mismanagement. A karaoke will be helpful by singing all your troubles away, what more can one do.
He just have a lot of things to get off from his cauldron …
His thought process become so convoluted almost like a traffic jam in LA or Edsa but worst part is that it has no end or direction.
Perhaps, reading Fr. Joaquin Bernas’ today’s column will tame or untame our better understanding between so-called ‘Florence Agreement on the Importation of Educational, Scientific and Cultural Materials of 1950′ on the one hand and Republic Act 8047 (that in fact recognizes the Florence Agreement if not equally ‘embraced’ it) on the other.
So it seems that the issue revolves around whether books are exempt from Customs duties or other such charges under the first or exempt under the second. The caveat is however found in the second (RA 8047) which more specifically does not exempt from customs duties or charges books not for purposes of book publishing and related activities by persons or enterprises engaged thereat.
Bernas made clear point in saying that the books not covered under the Agreement are those ‘published by or for a private commercial enterprise, essentially for advertising purposes”.
Thus Bernas concludes that there is only ‘a limitation on the power of the Board (Book Development Board) to importand not a modification of the country’s treat commitments.”
Book blockade? Not necessarily, cocoy.
i think it was pretty clear in the agreement that the only exception to the rule is anything published with 70% advertising. clearly a novel doesn’t fall under that. clearly a work by physicist stephen hawking doesn’t fall under that.
primer, there’s no nuances to slice and dice. dof is wrong, it’s understanding of the law is wrong, it’s logic is wrong, and diving into the legalism only fortifies the dof’s stand.
Government is a jealous lot, we should accept this. When I was head of BPLO (Business Permits & Licensing Office), while there are laws that truly exempt certain kinds of businesses, it is on purpose that we try to deny them their exemptions. Something about who is being disfavored – a question that is ultimately legal and constitutional.
Thus, we cannot really the Customs people as to which available legal document they will base their actions on. Besides, we cannot pretend to know all the inner workings of Customs. We normally know that Customs actually perform direct work in anti-smuggling, anti-piracy, et cetera other than being a revenue collecting agency.
Bottomline, we take heed when constitutional experts are already trying to illuminate the issue that seems problematic but turns out to be that simple really.
“while there are laws that truly exempt certain kinds of businesses, it is on purpose that we try to deny them their exemptions.”
ha!?
so you purposefully break the law?
that simple, really??? ha!? ano nga ba ang sinasabi mo?
while there are laws that truly exempt certain kinds of businesses, it is on purpose that we try to deny them their exemptions.
Primer:
What gives? Exemptions are also stipulated under the law.
Doesn’t that open the LGU to the possibility of a suit (not that any Filipino has filed one).
This rant is more like a tantrum. Parang bata na kung hindi masunod ang gusto dadaanin sa iyak. Dahil ba di nag-signup sa petition walang ginagawang protesta? Bakit ba kailangan ang protest style mo ang sundin?
sounds more like a frustration – a frustration that there’s a lot of folks who do not walk their talk.
Supremo,
The government of the republic of the philippines is breaking international law and SO few people CARE?
Don’t you think there is nothing fraked up about that?
hey, primer, did u really abuse the position u held? is that what u meant?
No, gabby, validation procedure like require the Certificate of Exemption, not just a copy of the law that exempts it. Still normal procedure.
so you dont DENY their exemptions. coz u used the word DENY, which has a very specific meaning. that is — you DONT give them their exemptions.
they just need to fill out paperwork. ganun?
GabbyD:
The DTI-BOI issues the Certificates of Exemption to qualified investors (investors who qualified for BOI Fiscal Incentives). This allows the holder of the Certificate to have permits fees and licenses waived off for a certain number of years.
Recently, there were fake Certificates of Exemption going around – not to mention that there were BOI personalities that were handing out exemptions indiscriminately (and for a fee) that a a moratorium was declared on processing CoEs until things get sorted out.
Normally, the CoE will be verified by the BPLO against the BOI data. This takes awhile because there is no connectivity of databases. Thus, BPLO personnel will have to wait for days before they can get a determination – often times staff wind up denying for whatever reason – when he didn’t have any reason except that it takes a long time to get the data out.
@bong
i don’t get. why “deny” when you can just say: there’s an administrative delay? staff shouldn’t be free to deny for ‘whatever reason’.
GabbyD:
I don’t know why the specific personnel are doing so. But I can speculate:
1 – It is easier to deny and approve after a request for reconsideration.
2 – Just plain lazy to follow through on the work.
3 – There is a directive from “higher ups”.
4 – Technicalities that can disqualify a CoE (i.e. expired, fraudulently altered)
5 – No investors have held any staff accountable, for fear of harassment, and possible extortion.
And, I agree it’s best to give a reason for the delay instead of denying it outright.
hah? validation procedure like require what?