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Babelmachine

Because the revolution will not be televised, but blogged

by Joey Alarilla, Philippines


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Filipino Netizens rally vs. Government's "book blockade"

May 15, 2009 14:11

From blogs to microblogging tools like Twitter and Plurk, to online petitions, Filipinos are taking the fight against the Philippine Government's "book blockade" to cyberspace.

The "book blockade" refers to the decision of Philippine Customs officials to impose a tax on books which are not "educational", such as novels, thereby curtailing the entry of imported books into the country. Here is an article written about the issue by Robin Hemley, director of the Nonfiction Writing Program at the University of Iowa, who is in the Philippines on a Guggenheim Fellowship, and an opinion piece from columnist and TV host Manuel L. Quezon III published in the leading Philippine newspaper, the Philippine Daily Inquirer. On Facebook, Louie Aguinaldo also started the cause Filipinos against the Taxation of Books by Customs.

Yesterday, with Filipinos engrossed with Twitter as the noontime show Eat Bulaga became one of the most popular Trending Topics, those opposed to the book blockade decided to tweet about the issue and create the hashtag #bookblockade, as recounted in this post by Jayvee Fernandez on The Blog Herald.

"Make the stupid #bookblockade issue hit Twitter trends like Eat Bulaga! http://www.mcsweeneys.net/links/manila/1dispatch6.html" Twitter user @sofimi urged, and Filipinos responded, making #bookblockade one of the most popular Trending Topics yesterday. They also used Plurk, which is arguably a more popular microblogging tool among Filipinos, to spread the word.

Even prior to the #bookblockade hashtag campaign, the issue was given mileage on Twitter when critically acclaimed author Neil Gaiman, who has 397,199 followers on Twitter as of this writing, retweeted (which means to repost another person's tweet) a plea against the book blockade from a Twitter user in the Philippines, @VivatRegina.

Now, an online petition started by Maia Dumdum is circulating among Filipino users, urging them to gather a thousand signatures calling for an end to the Philippine book blockade.

Philippine solons led by Senator Miriam Defensor have called for an investigation of the book blockade, with Santiago quoted as saying the Bureau of Customs is wrong in its interpretation of the law and is violating an international agreement that the Philippines signed.

"The Florence Agreement provides that the contracting states undertake not to apply customs duties or other charges on, or in connection with, the importation of books, publications, and documents," Santiago said.

"The Philippines is bound by this treaty under the principle of pacta sund servanda. This simply means that every treaty in force is binding upon the parties to it and must be performed by them in good faith," she explained.

For more information and a comprehensive book blockade timeline, you may want to check out this post from Manuel Quezon III.



2 comments   |   Share


 

    Talkback
komikero says...
Hello Joey!

Thanks for spreading further awareness about this subject. It's infuriating that the government is manipulating the law to justify their violation of International Treaty, even so far as to say that novels are not "educational". With people like this in positions of power, it's no wonder the Filipino people are kept culturally bereft and intellectually deficient.

May 15, 2009 14:33
 
 
babelmachine says...
hi gerry, thanks for visiting!

i really hope that together, we filipinos will be able to end this book blockade. it's really mind-boggling how our customs officials could interpret the law this way.

i swear, it's one for the, um, books :)

cheers!

May 15, 2009 15:40
 
 
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About Joey Alarilla

Joey Alarilla is the Multimedia Head a.k.a. The Catalyst of Manila-based Level Up! Inc., the PLDT Group's online gaming company. He is a doting dad, avid gamer, and pro wrestling fan. Visit his personal blog and follow him on Twitter. You may also add him to your Facebook, or follow him on Plurk and Yahoo! Meme.

 
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