No more imported books for the Philippines

That is really bad! I think the bookstore that is being withheld should present this law and UN agreement that imported books are duty free and tax free. I think this people in the customs are just as ignorant when they implement the law. I wonder why these are not leaked to the press so that this thing can be made aware to the public.

Oh my goodness. It is hard for us, you know. Here in our country, we need more good imported books for our educational purposes which is our number one problem. But if they charged more taxes and other payments, I don't think many people will buy imported books since it is very expensive. I guess the alternative way is to import secondhand books for cheaper... I don't know why customs are doing this.. don't you know that it will get worse of our economy if we don't fix it? =(

Thanks for sharing this.. I love books, and teachers makes us use textbooks and other books that are written or either published in the united states...I guess it would make it difficult for students to find the right books for school stuff, and almost all good books are those that are imported. If this continue to happen, the prices of those books will be more expensive when they reach the bookstore, because of the money they need to pay the rent...i might as well shop online.. I hope this gets resolved....

actually, i don't know what to say about those corrupt people...should they start having only one child and one wife so that they can give their family a decent life and avoid corruption? should they start looking in the mirror so they could see how a walking balloon they look already in the hope that they would stop gorging delicious, rich, expensive foods? i don't know what the root of corruption is. but i do know that corrupt people have more than they can chew that is why they resort to this thick-faced act.

wooo... I guess that is the reason why many of these officials are still acting like uneducated and ignorant people because they have restrained the entry of books which was designed for their personal education. No wonder.

If this is true, then we should bring this up to the media. This is ridiculous. Everytime i go to national or powerbook the best books are most of the time imported books (with very pricey tags). Its expensive as it is now, imagine adding tax on them which will surely be passed to consumers. WhaT is happening to this country. Pasuntok ko sila kay pacquiao eh hehe

It's bad enough that they are breaking the law and should have known better but they are stealing from book lovers precious time when they should have been together. What will they come up with next?

Wow this is yet another evidence of the rampant corruption in our government. Those guys at Customs must've thought they aren't earning enough from legal and illegal means so they decided to charge these free books some duties. The government is so supposed to intervene in this....

Can they answer this question then..... what will happen to the eduction system of the Philippines if goods books cannot be given to students. What's wrong with them. They almost have to stop everything. The next thing we know we will have nothing.

Hello oyenkai, thanks for sharing this informaiton. I really find it odd that the government is running after those should-be non-taxable transactions for its revenue generation. They have not thought of the possible implications of doing so to the educational system and the quality of graduates we will be producing without those books available for students. For this matter, there should have been an analysis of what could be the implications of implementing such tax regulations to the whole society not only the government being able to generate more funds which I would never thought will be for the benefits of the Filipinos. See, the problem with the revenue generating programs of the Philippines lies not with the regulations or the lack of it. We are implementing a lot of tax programs which I think has hindered a lot of economic activities if were not for these measures. We are losing so much revenue on the IMPLEMENTATION. If we will just have that good faith that every human is required of in fulfilling its duties, then no non-sense tax measures would have come up. I hope this has contributed to this topic. Thanks!

Oh my! This is really frustrating. Books are already expensive enough. What are they thinking? It's like they do whatever they like just to get money. The government has to think about this new rule the Department of Customs is implementing. They have to consider the pros and cons of this new law. And since they are after the taxes, why not go after those big businessmen who are trying to evade paying taxes and let the people in the country READ BOOKS!

That just makes me mad! Thanks for sharing it. I'll definitely pass it on to everyone I know.

I have read about that from a comic strip in a broadsheet magazine. I think it's Beerkada, mentioning the charges currently imposed on imported books. I just hope this would get straightened out soon.

id surely tell this to my girlfriend. she loves to read all the time. she would be against with what the department of customs is doing.

So this must be why it took a long time the Twilight series to be available in bookstores... the books were printed in the US... and despite the high demand... people had to wait for them to be availabe... It it is under the Philippine law and international law that no tarriff should be imposed on books... that why are they doing that... i hope the media gets a hold of this situation so that those responsible would act fast...

Hi there! I pity those corrupt people in the government for they couldn't think of a better way to rob people. I find it childish to put taxes on the books since they know it will aid the learning progress of Filipinos. I hope they think it over again cause preventing imported books to come might deprive Filipinos to gain more knowledge. Ciao!

Because the taxpayers' hard earned money just isn't enough anymore these days. *rolls eyes* I don't really understand how the government could still claim to incur a budget deficit with all these "new" sources of revenue. And books? Really. The next thing we know, they'd be charging us toll fees for breathing in public just so they'd have something to... misappropriate.