COUNTRY REPORT – PHILIPPINES
By:
ATTY. DOMINADOR D. BUHAIN
President Emeritus, PEPA
(Presented during the ABPA Meeting on November 24, 2006, Hanoi, Vietnam)
Latest Legislative Measures Affecting the Book Publishing Industry
Year 2006 is a very busy year for the publishing industry in the country.
The hosted the regular meeting of the ABPA from August 28 to 31 held at Hotel Philippine Plaza, Pasay City, Philippines. In said event delegates also attended and participated in the ABPA Forum held on August 30, 2006 at World Trade Center, under the theme: ‘’Expanding Marketing Coverage In the ASEAN Region Through the Adoption And/Or Development of a Common Language While Retaining the Language of Culture’’. The Forum was well attended and country’s heads or representatives from Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Philippine presented their views and stand on the issue.
On legislative end, the publishing sector lauded the Philippine Congress in the passage of Republic Act No. 9337, otherwise known as the Reformed-Value Added Tax (RVAT). Under the new scheme of taxation, which increase the VAT rate from 10% to 12% the exemption of books and the publishing sector from the coverage of the R-VAT was retained. The lawmakers heeded our request and petition that the exemption from the coverage of tax be retained in order not to hamper the free flow of information in the country. Specially, the law exempts from the coverage of the VAT the following:
‘’Sale, importation, printing or publication of books and any newspaper, magazines, review or bulleting which appears at regular intervals with fixed prices for subscription and sale and which is not devoted principally to the publication of paid advertisements,’’
Also, the House of Representatives passed on 3rd Reading H.B. No. 2395, which was considered by the Senate of the Philippines in S.No. 2411, entitled: ‘’An Act Harmonizing the Grant and Administration of Fiscal and Non-fiscal Incentives, and For Other Purposes’’.
Under both measures, the fiscal and non-fiscal incentives for book development provided for in Section 8 and 12 of R.A. No. 8047 were retained and expanded. The bill is now on its final stage of enactment in the upper chamber.
Likewise, we follow-up the developments of the following measures in Congress through submission of a position paper and/or attending public hearings and consultation, to wit:
- S.No. 1914 – The Book City and Creating the Book Publishing Enterprise Zone Authority
- S.No. 1992 – Adopting a Retail Price Maintenance and Uniform Discounting Scheme in Book Trade
- S.No. 2182 – Declaring It Unlawful To Illegally Reproduced Copyrighted Books and Printed Materials Through Photocopying, Duplicating, Printing or Similar Means
- S.Nos. 76 and 847 – Mandating that Educational Curriculum and the Consequent Preparation of Textbooks and Related Materials Should Have Continuity and Stability, and That the Same Should Not Be Affected By Any Change During the Period of at Least Six (6) Years.
And finally, the undersigned as President of the revived Philippine Book Publishing Development Federation has initiated and supported the filling of a bill in the Senate on October 21, 2006 and the same was index as S.No. 2476, entitled: ‘’An Act Decentralizing the Textbook Procurement Program of the Department of Education (DepEd) creating a Regional Textbook Procurement Services Unit (RTPSU) In All Regional Offices Including the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Amending for the Purpose Section 10 of RA No. 8047, Otherwise Known as the Book Publishing Industry Development Act..
The law seeks to address the highly centralized and mass procurement of books that has resulted in the delay of the delivery of the books due to:
- The long and tedious procedures in the procurement system;
- Too much requirements and red tapes: and
- Awarding of multiple contracts to same companies even if they have not completed previous contracts.
It is our hope that with the passage of S.No. 2476, the required textbooks would not only be delivered without delay but likewise meet the standards of quality required per province, city and municipality.
And the enactment of the measure would give an end to the monopoly in textbook procurement and the new scheme of democratization and decentralization would be of great help not only to the small and medium publishers but also to the big publishers nationwide.
- Accomplishments of the National Book Development Board (NBDB)
Presented hereunder are some accomplishments of the NBDB:
Developed and Support the Creative Sector
- Conducted Forum on Intellectual Property Rights
- Conducted Forum on Publish on Demand Technology
- Conducted Bookselling seminar to public to provide an opportunity to earn additional income
- Conducted campaign to pass the bill on the National Book Development Trust Fund into Law
- Facilitated the Establishment of an Interim Secretariat for the Philippine Reproduction Rights Organization (PRRO)
Expand Local and International markets for Philippine books
- Booklatan Activities on the following provinces:
- Trainors Training on Readership Zamboanga City and Zamboanga Del Sur
- Seminar on Library Administration in Pagadian City
- Seminar on E-books and Library Management in Zamboanga City
- Trainors Training on Readership in Pasig, Manila and Mandaluyong
- Prepared handbook on how to set up and maintain a Barangay Reading Center
- Facilitated and presentation of American Institute of Learning on possible acquisition of 300 textbooks in the English language authored and published in the Philippines
- Conducted book donation activities nationwide:
