THE OUTLOOK AND PROSPECTS OF THE
PHILIPPINE BOOK PUBLISHING INDUSTRY
TOWARDS THE THIRD MILLENNIUM
By
ATTY. DOMINADOR D. BUHAIN
President, Philippine Educational
Publishers Association
(Delivered on the Occasion of the Asian Pacific
Publishers Association’s General Assembly 1999, June 3, 1999
at the Sydney Convention Center, Sydney, Australia)
I am deeply honored to submit a brief report on the developments taking place in the Philippines – the book publishing industry in the last fifteen months, May I also be privileged to express the buoyed up optimism of our colleagues in the Philippines despite the economic difficulties that have beset the Philippines and most developing countries of Asia.
With the change in the administration of government affairs in 1998, there have been a declared intention to continue the fiscal and economic policies of the previous administration which can be credited for the sustained economic activity for the past six years. There is every reason to expect therefore that the book publishing industry will be afforded government attention.
In fact the 1999 Investment Priorities Plan of the government specifically mentions book publishing as a priority expansion sector.
We have seen the rise of domestic book production in 1996 that started with the passage of R.A. No. 8047 or the Philippine Book Publishing Industry Development Act. There had been an increase in book production from 3,770 titles in 1996 to 5,093 in 1997 (+35%); though it slightly fluctuated to 4,326 (-15%) in 1998.
The book production in 1998 had particularly been enriched through the proliferation of quality historical and cultural publications through government awards and incentives as the Philippines celebrated its 100th year of independence. This upward trend is expected to continue in the years ahead in unison with the growth of electronic publishing.
The Philippine economy has not been spared from the financial crisis that hit most parts of Asia. The adverse consequences, however, on the Philippines are not much compared to the countries which heavily invested on capital infrastructure. The local situation can be best describe as on its way to full recovery and the businessmen and foreign investors continue to be bullish about it. The same can be said of the book publishing industry; notwithstanding the flow of foreign materials and of the technological developments in the electronic world.
The National Book Development Board (NBDB), which was created under R.A. No. 8047, and which is tasked by law to oversee the growth of the book publishing industry, has finished crafting the National Book Policy and is now in a position to submit said document to President Joseph Ejercito Estrada for approval and adoption.
The National Book Policy is a statement of the intention and philosophy of the State as a basis for the formulation and implementation of measures for the development, production and distribution of books. With the Policy in place, the National Book Development Plan (Plan), which refers to the integrated approach for fostering book development, is now in the production line.
It is then expected that the Plan will ensure a rational and integrated approach consisting of the totality of the procedures and systems for attaining the balanced growth of the various components of book development and production, including the preparation and distribution of books.
The private stakeholders or book publishers and distributors are glad of the active role that government has entrusted on them. Any major policy shift goes through a process of consultation with the private sector and for this reason the future of the book publishing industry in the Philippines shall lie mainly on the private sector initiative. The role played by government is mostly supportive to development and not plainly as a regulatory agency.
In the period just passed, we have seen the emergence of a federation of a majority of the book associations in the Philippines. This federation, aptly called the Philippine Book Development Federation or Philbook for short, aims to pool and unify all private sector initiatives to foster the continuing growth and development of the industry.
In the early part of 1998, the Philbook spearheaded the conduct of a national book fair which also featured the holding of three vital seminars on (1) the Reproduction Rights Organization, (2) Electronic Book Publishing, and (3) the Paju Book City of Korea. Foreign resource persons of APPA member-countries were invited to grace and speak in the said seminars.
The growth and viability of the book publishing industry also depend to a large measure on the ability of governments and institutions to extend protection to intellectual property rights (IPR). There is therefore an ongoing program to instill public awareness of the existing Intellectual Property Code (IPC) and other international agreements on IPR. In October 1998, a seminar on the IPC was held under the auspices of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Again, follow up seminars were held early 1999.
There is now a move to form a Philippine Reproduction Rights Organization and to affiliate this later with IFRRO. This is to ensure that there shall be a wider coverage and compensation for intellectual property rights. The movement is being led by the National Book Development Board. This early 35 publishers have signified their intention to affiliate and the formal organization and election of officers shall take place in June 1999 to coincide with the observance of Philippine Book Development Month.
The industry is also looking at expanding its international market for Philippine books. With the help of the Asian Pacific Publishers Association (APPA), Filipino-authored publications had been showcased for five years at the Tokyo International Book Fair and this year at the Australian International Book Fair. Purchase of rights and contracts for exclusive distributorship for those publications have definitely commenced, thus encouraging the production of globally-competitive publications.
In the October 1998 Frankfurt International Book Fair, the Philippines officially registered for the first time as an international exhibitor. For the initial effort, the Philippine participation showcased some of the best outputs from forty five local book publishers. A bigger participation in 1999 has also been agreed with NBDB again heading the move. Likewise, participating in an Asian bookfair in year 2000 has been approved in principle.
As a consequence of its participation in the Frankfurt International Bookfair, some worldwide distributors have taken interest in some of the topics put on display. There were initial product negotiations on distribution rights that took place in Frankfurt that are now the subject of ongoing discussions between the distributors and the Philippine publishers represented by the NBDB at the start. The NBDB is also eyeing to participate in the equally prestigious Bologna Bookfair which focuses on children’s books.
An association, tentatively named Philippine Association of Book Exporters is now being organized to undertake the initial concepts and mechanics and the eventual management of all exporting activities. The formal organization and election of officers shall take place on June 23, 1999 with the special participation of the NBDB.
There is also an ongoing program to heighten the literacy rate of the Filipino masses and to generate an increased love and propensity for book readership. This is one of the ways by which market for books will be enlarged. A multilateral grouping of concerned government agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) have bonded themselves into an effective implementing arm called the LIBRO (a Filipino word for BOOK) which is an acronym for Literacy and Book Readership Organization.
Moves have been made to officially register the organization before the Securities and Exchange Commission, a government agency in-charge of monitoring and registration of corporations and entities organized under Philippine laws. The group has also started the drafting of concrete measures or readership programs and the solicitation of the required fundings to execute the same.
The number of local bookfairs in the Philippine is also increasing. This is a recognition of the growing and the active role of the industry in the national scene. What used to be held only in Metro Manila is now being replicated in the Southern parts of the country and the number of participants keep on growing.
It is admitted that the growth of the book publishing industry in the Philippines depends to a large extent on the availability of book publishing and marketing data needed for policy formulation or decision-making processes. There are now efforts made towards the maintenance of a book industry data bank from which relevant and necessary statistics and figures can be obtained.
At least two members of the NBDB namely Governor Edgardo Paras and yours truly had been invited to join the committee that will draft the implementing rules and regulations of the new copyright law. The NBDB shall more less be ensured that pertinent data from the National Library (which by law is the office within which to register new titles for copyright purposes) shall be conveyed to the former.
The NBDB and the other private stakeholders and book publishers have now acquired their own Web sites to make data easily accessible to decision makers. These Web Sites are expected to be fully equipped with the latest information very soon.
Another area which is being given adequate government support and attention is the development of book publishing in the other regions (there are 16 in all) of the Philippines. Presently, publishing activities take place mostly in the central region or in Metro Manila. Training programs on human resource developments are regularly conducted in preparation for the eventual need as a consequence of regional expansion.
The NBDB and the private sector, notably the Philippine Educational Publishers Association (PEPA) of which I am the President, together with the Book Development Association of the Philippines (BDAP) and the Association of Philippine Booksellers (APB) are in harmony in bringing about the skills transfer to the other regions.
We believe that in order to improve reading habit, two important things must take place, namely:
- There must be a need to eradicate functional illiteracy;
A.1 Towards this end, PEPA has joined hands with the League of Municipalities of the Philippines to donate reading materials to the various libraries as well as to put up libraries in case there are none;
A.2 Aside from the NBDB – initiated LIBRO as mentioned earlier, the Department of Education, Culture and Sports’ (DECS) Non- formal Division and the Literacy Coordinating Council (LCC) are actively performing their respective shares in the upliftment of literacy;
- There must also be a need to put up more bookstores nationwide.
Book stores may be encourage to be put up in other localities through the grant of privileges like attractive discount. The local industry in fact is seriously considering the adoption of the retail price maintenance scheme to bring about stability in prices and to prevent cut-throat competition. Said scheme is being adopted in Japan, Korea, Germany and in other progressive countries.
In closing, may I just reiterate that the Philippine book publishing industry remains bullish and it shall weather out the fading financial crisis. With government support and the continuing trust of the APPA and the IPA the upliftment of book publishing shall soon be at hand.
We shall face the new millennium with an even more renewed spirit and shall be more responsive to the growing need for more educational and information reading materials. We shall ably respond to give the new generation a more meaningful future and enter the new millennium with all the glory of the Pearl of the Orient Seas.
Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the expanding ranks of Filipino book publishers and the Filipino people, I thank you very much.
