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This is the blog of Ian Rosales Casocot. Filipino writer. Sometime academic. Former backpacker. Twink bait. Hamster lover.

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Monday, May 25, 2009

entry arrow4:00 AM | Book Tax is Scrapped!

Here's another good news after Mendoza's Cannes win: the tax on book import has just been scrapped by Malacañang.

According to Press Secretary Cerge Remonde, “The President wants books to be within reach of the common man. She believes reading as an important value for intellectual formation, which is the foundation of a healthy public opinion necessary for a vibrant democracy.” Okaaayyy. Finance Secretary Margarito Teves said the department will immediately comply, but "however said that revenue generation was not the main reason for the import duties but to clarify regulations on book imports as provided by the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines." Whatever. (But what actually dismays me more is the fact that back here in Negros Oriental, where Sec. Teves is from, nobody -- not a single local newspaper -- carried the story of the book blockade.)

Full story here.

The full timeline here, courtesy of Manuel L. Quezon III.

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