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BDAP Position Paper for submission to DOF
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Attached is a copy of my letter to the Secretary of Justice requesting for his opinion on the legality of the Department of Finance Order No. 17-09. Attached likewise is the final copy of BDAP’s Position Paper on the issue. - LIRIO P. SANDOVAL |
BDAP Letter to Secretary of Justice
April 30, 2009
HONORABLE RAUL M. GONZALEZ
Secretary
Department of Justice
Padre Faura St., Manila
Dear Secretary Gonzalez:
The book reading public in the country is suddenly jolted when the Department of Finance (DOF) imposed duty on the importation of books through Department Order No. 17-09: Guidelines of Duty-Free Importation of Books, issued on 24 March 2009 by Secretary Margarito B. Teves, published on 12 April 2009 at the Phil. Daily Inquirer and is now being implemented.
We earnestly seek your opinion on said Guidelines because they run counter to Sec. 12 of RA 8047, which provides that “In case of tax and duty-free importation of books or raw materials to be used in book publishing, the Board and its duly authorized representatives shall strictly monitor the quality and volume of imported books and material as well as their distribution and the utilization of the said imported materials.”
It is interesting to note that RA 8047 or the Book Publishing Industry Development Act of 1995 was co-authored by Secretary Teves when he was a member of the House of Representatives.
Your immediate rendering of opinion on this matter will greatly benefit our reading public and the book industry.
Please find attached a copy of the DOF Guidelines and the position paper of the Book Development Association of the Philippines.
Respectfully yours,
LIRIO P. SANDOVAL
President
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