Victory!!! #bookblockade Over!
May 25th, 2009 by cocoy
From Hemley to Locsin to Quezon and all they’ve called to arms in the real world and here on cyberspace, from Facebook to Twitter— you know who you are, We did it! We actually did it! Wow! You can read it on Business Mirror (thanks @bigenya for the heads up!), Palace revisits ‘Book Blockade’ after drawing flak from UN or the Philippine Star: Taxes on Imported Books, lifted. And of course, @mlq3 has updated The Great Book Blockade of 2009 Timeline.
Victory is sweet. Who would have thought we could change Government’s mind?
The sad part of it, as much of our people care more about Kho’s, Belo’s and Halili’s sex life. We won this victory without 95% of our people understanding why it was fought in the first place and why this is important. We fought this battle largely without network television and hardly any support from the daily newspapers. Heck, I don’t think they know it was fought at all.
The frightening and dangerous thought is that if this was won largely without popular support, in the next engagement, should we bother getting them onboard? That to build this nation, do we still need them? Are they immaterial to the larger war? Dangerous question, correct?
People saw the book blockade, this war on book taxes and duties as a war of the elite. How many people who joined this crusade who are actually multimillionaires but instead are ordinary people, living ordinary lives who love books?
If today’s Filipino is hardly a reader, what more when the bar to reading is higher? Literature isn’t just fiction. It includes nonfiction work. It includes poetry and essays. Literature is an important building block that goes well with music, with art, with faith. That’s an important reason to fight for this, correct? But that’s not biggest picture in this battle.
People rave time and time again that the rule of law should be upheld. People did when Martin Nievera sang so badly. The rule of law must be upheld! Where were you when this government was trampling upon the rule of law?
People would yell at the top of their lungs that we should fight corruption. We have all these political scandals and we have people like Samuel Ong, Jun Lozada and others who fight passionately for what they believed in. Yet, for all the power and all the effort and all the anger against corruption, there is hardly anything to show for it. And we the people are so frustrated. Why is our country so fucked up?
This battle was won largely because the diverse group used cyberspace to get our message across. We were heard in the halls of the US Embassy. We were heard in twitter and facebook. We were heard in the UN. And those entities helped put in pressure on our government who would normally wait for the storm to pass.
The Internet isn’t just a delivery mechanism for sex scandals. It is a delivery mechanism to help change the world.
This is how nation building works, one pebble at a time to change a corrupt system. To put it simply, “small victories”. And to those people who failed to join this crusade or failed to see the big picture? This is what I have to say: breaking the blockade, We fought corruption and we stuck it where it hurt. What did you do the past week?
May 25, 2009 at 1:47 pm
Takot sa UN.
May 25, 2009 at 1:50 pm
“Literature isn’t just fiction” Huh? Mas importante pa ba non-fiction sa fiction? Sa’n kaba nag-aral?
May 25, 2009 at 2:04 pm
i meant some people might think that literature is just about fiction. literature includes nonfiction and poetry and essays.
May 25, 2009 at 3:34 pm
Literature is everything printed. Fiction depicts the human condition in many ways that non-fiction is unable to do so and presents ways to redeem Man (read Steinbeck’s Nobel acceptance speech)
The government backtracked since books are still powerful. A book that is read lives and becomes more powerful with each and every page turned. A dead book is an unread book.
May 25, 2009 at 1:52 pm
“What did you do the past week?”
Kala ko ba nawala na mga Edsa 2 people na to.
May 25, 2009 at 2:08 pm
more positive this time around.
May 25, 2009 at 2:13 pm
Congrats!!! :)
May 25, 2009 at 2:14 pm
This is still a review but it looks like the government is taking heed of the anger unleashed from all interested parties concerning this book blockade. Who in the right mind would even propose these tax increases?
We need literature in our lives. I remember when I was young amidst poverty and squalor, everytime we read essays from Emerson to the short stories of O’Henry, I felt lifted and blessed to be in company of all these great minds that I never minded the hardship surrounding me. Salamat sa lahat ng nagmamalasakit.
May 25, 2009 at 2:17 pm
Congrats!
Good exercise in advocacy.
Consider this as “muscle flexing” by the netizen’s opinion leaders.
A nascent group that has potential for agit-prop :)
May 27, 2009 at 6:06 am
Wasn’t the CBCP also quietly working behind the scenes (to make sure (religious) books do not get taxed?) ?
May 29, 2009 at 7:51 pm
I thought religious books are automatically classified as cultural books thus those are safe from the tax.
And, CBCP QUIETLY wokring? not likely. near impossible.
May 25, 2009 at 2:17 pm
“What did you do the past week?”
Kala ko ba nawala na mga Edsa 2 people na to.
Nope, LOL BrianB they are still very much alive. And I was an Edsa Dos crybaby myself, and I’ve been washing myself with that particular brand of lysol meant to wash off self-righteousness, for the past eight years.
“The frightening and dangerous thought is that if this was won largely without popular support, in the next engagement, should we bother getting them onboard? That to build this nation, do we still need them? Are they immaterial to the larger war? Dangerous question, correct?”
Not as dangerous, as to say, it is stupidest as stupid could get. Now, tell me, what are really books for, eh?
No really, cocoy, congratulations are indeed in order! IT was a good fight and hooray for more affordable books, meaning, and hopefully, more people could get to afford them (and not just the rich). As they say, “knowledge is like manure, it is only good when spread around.” Concentrated shit smells really bad (and I hope Filipino Voices is not smelling like one as days go by).
May 25, 2009 at 2:31 pm
To Manolo, Gerry, to Cocoy, and the rest of the online community who was part of this fight, congratulations are in order..
an amazing turnaround, just amazing..
May 25, 2009 at 2:49 pm
I knew the government would cave in especially if it is about the future of our children’s education. It was a matter of time. Thanks cocoy for reminding me about the blockade. It took a while for me to post. I knew my post was late but still I made my stand. Others also followed suit. And even those who didn’t blog about it, they were praying something good will come out. I know they also made a stand via facebook or the online petition.
May 25, 2009 at 2:54 pm
They have woken the sleeping dragon of deeply seated public discontent.
May 25, 2009 at 3:11 pm
Perhaps, that public official in the Office of Legal Affairs of the Department of Foreign Affairs who drafted the opinion must be the ‘person in authority’ that I am talking about in other blogs, who, provided he does not intend to merely kowtow to the whims of the powers that be, can effect the change we so earnestly advocate.
May his tribe increase.
And of course due thanks to the others rowing the other side of the boat, if that must include our very own, Cocoy.
It is hoped no one comes along to ‘invalidate’ this self-congratulatory victory. (no offense intended).
May 25, 2009 at 3:35 pm
Let’s not take too long resting on well-deserved laurels though. The DoF/BoC directive violated a treaty and so we had the international community wagging fingers at our government. What happens when we’re on our own, when no treaty is being violated, when all ‘revenue’ measures are perfectly legal? What if the government legislated more taxes? Higher income tax rates, taxing text messages, higher taxes for private schools?
May 25, 2009 at 3:46 pm
Publish a kiss and tell celebrity doctors and victims book. Expect readership to rise.
May 25, 2009 at 3:52 pm
Pati na rin mga teachers at university profs… ahahah
May 26, 2009 at 1:46 am
READERSHIP TO RISE? Wanna bet????
HA!HA!HA!HA!HZA!HA!HA!HA! Puputi na lang ang uwak hindi pa mag-babasa ang mga Filipios ….
May 25, 2009 at 4:17 pm
Congrats!
Jeg has a point,tanggalin nila isang tax baka mabulaga tayo ng panibagong tax na malaki din ang impact sa atin o sa nakararami.
As they say,no free lunch.
I liked your advocacy ,I know I kept on asking what’s next, and what happens next but that was never meant to show my lack of interest.
There you go,Cocoy!
May 25, 2009 at 5:27 pm
Kudos to whom it’s due! I’m as jubilant as everybody with this happy ending.
May 25, 2009 at 5:43 pm
Hmmmm… a thought has just occurred to me. If the internet citizens were instrumental in keeping the issue alive and making it known to whomever could pull the right levers (UNESCO for instance), it may not too farfetched that the government, seeing the loss of revenue from their book scheme, will instead levy more taxes on internet home use. Will we be ready for that fight?
May 26, 2009 at 1:45 am
Thank you,Jeg. It’s the interneet citizens not some pekeng-peryodistas idiocy that lifted the book blockade …
May 25, 2009 at 10:32 pm
The Sales‘ Tax they say is just minuscule…
“Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales said that duties collected
from imported books in the first four months of the year only reached
P1.7 million, against the P277 billion revenue target of the Bureau of
Customs this year.”
—–
“Our only interest in the issuance of DO 17-09 is to remove discretion
among customs officers, increase transparency, and improve
accountability in the duty-free importation of books,” Secretary Teves
pointed out.”
Huh??? Come again???
—–
quotes from:
http://www.dof.gov.ph/pdf/PR_suspension%20of%20do17-09_25May09_final.pdf
May 25, 2009 at 10:40 pm
Whoever rallied behind a more than 50 year old international treaty must have stood to benefit from the lifting of tax burdens on imported books in accordance with the Florence Agreement.
But of course, we were just presented the one-sided view of the whole reality. The other side of the story is a work in research.
May 28, 2009 at 4:32 pm
Thanks bro! The other side of story is “the ordinary people was used by smuggler/tax evaders”. DOF and BOC is not against lowering duty rate of books or even making it 0%. It that way tax evaders may not use it in their on benifits, much so cant be the cause of corruption. 1st facts was not been discuuss, what was those government officials have been violated under UNESCO Florence Agreement? To date no one raised specific provision. BOC filed against the importer not against the books. Why and how? We are talking about importers which are the bookstore not included the importers (schools, educational institutions, public libraries). How it affects the issue? Under UNESCO Florence Agreement only importations of educational institutions, public libraries, school for the blind are covered by this Int’l Agreement. Private commercial enterprises (bookstore) are not covered by said Int’l. Agreement under Annex A(b). Who then violates Int’l. Agreement? Ateneo de Manila, UP and other educational institutions are still tax and duty free on their importations under this int’l. agreement and customs law and regulations pursuant to section 105 of tariff and customs law of the philippines (TCCP)because they comply the DepEd certifications. Hope bro this can help you to understand both side of th4 coin. God bless!
May 25, 2009 at 11:08 pm
Freedom is not Free. You have to fight for it, nurture it and safeguard it. This is also true to our Rights as Citizens. When Apathy sets in on the citizens. Abuses on those in power sets in also.
I always believe in the saying:”Eternal vigilance is the price of
Liberty”.
May 26, 2009 at 1:44 am
Filipinos has no rights! YOU HAVE TO APPLY FOR WRIT OF AMPARING TO HAVE YOUR RIGHTS PROTECTED!!!!
Even with Writ of Amparing is not a guarantee of your rights protected …
Get Real!!!!
May 26, 2009 at 1:41 am
WE NEED FOREIGN BOOKS ….
Look at this error-filled textbooks ….
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/%E2%80%98error-filled%E2%80%99-book
PHilipine de facto historian, Zaide, must be wrong 50% of the time on history of the Filipinos …
May 26, 2009 at 5:31 am
great job cocoy …
of course people should not allow any goods or services to be taxed higher. that income will only go the pockets of the corrupts anyway.
May 26, 2009 at 10:04 am
… daaaaaang
… keep up da gut work… keep it moving… moving… moving…
… next… how about a “blockade” of ate glo&magnanakaws rampant corruption?
… ooooopsie… no can do…
May 26, 2009 at 10:27 am
Teddy boy Locsin said that gloria deserves a “Thank you.”
What did you do the past two days?
May 28, 2009 at 11:05 pm
Where the Great Book Blockade may have achieved success, the Great Tax Blockade may have scored failure in the chart.
And whose fault is it? The collaborators of a rather antiquated international agreement that now ought to be revisited, reviewed, and even revised as its obsolescence and its antiquity have already been outlived and what supplant is the a powerful corporate bloc out to draw profits from the tax exemption license that it invokes they must enjoy.
I don’t believe in their cause, sorry to tell.
May 28, 2009 at 11:11 pm
If it’s for profit, it should be taxed – as stipulated in the agreement.
If it’s not for profit – and goes to schools directly – it shouldn’t be taxed as the donors have taken upon shouldering the responsibility of disbursing the resources that government has been remiss in providing.
June 15, 2009 at 8:53 pm
Now we have common grounds. DOF/BOC is not against book of any kinds, but they are taxing natl bookstore, powerbook, asian book.Because they are the tax evaders hidding behind the UNESCO Florence Agreement that only public libraries, educational institution, and school for the blinds are qualified on the tax exemption priviledge. Now who won the victory? Tax evaders (Bookstores)! Ateneo De Manila, UP, and other educational institutions are still enjoying this priviledge under UNESCO florence agreement and Sec 105 of the TCCP. Im sorry that booklovers was used by this tax evaders for there own personal gains. God said “My people are destroy for lack of knowledge.” Misinform, misrepresented by the media.
May 29, 2009 at 12:30 am
I’m sure you can research on the other side of the issue because I just don’t believe in this form of self-congratulatory victory.
Whoever said, the bloggers accomplished a thing?
May 29, 2009 at 1:22 am
what is the accomplishment about?
May 29, 2009 at 6:17 am
It was about GMA lifting the tax on books as off-tangent to the Florence Agreement? Some here claim it was their handiwork and from there concludes, we can change the nation.
Can we?
June 15, 2009 at 9:16 pm
Nation Of Idiots from the journalist of one of the leading newspaper. He is a prophet indeed, knowing that it will come to past. Being jubilee or happy for the tax evaders victory. Being captived, fooled again by these organized capitalist syndicate.Did anyone ask themself how much is the import value of this book, plus other charges, include duties and taxes, plus 25% profit for wholesale, plus 25% profit for retail equals the retail value of the book. Did anyone know the imported book they purchashed include duty and tax on thier retail price. No one knows but we are all fighting for the fight we are not aware of. Congrats tax evaders you fooled them all!