Professional Documents
Culture Documents
INTRODUCTION
With all due respect, the said Department Order and the
Memorandum are legally infirm and without any basis under
the present state of the law affecting book importation.
1.1.2 With all due respect, at present, the DOF does not have
any authority to issue any prior approval for the importation of
books, of whatever nature or type; and neither for their tax and
duty free release by the Bureau of Customs (BOC). If such
authority to approve is actually necessary, this authority
properly rests with the present National Book Development
Board (NBDB) and its Directorate. This was clearly the import
of the lawmakers when they came out and enacted RA 8047:
so that one law (other than those directly affecting educational
institutions that are non-stock and non profit and those with
their own Charters) would govern all aspects of the Book
Industry. Too many laws being implemented merely gives
opportunity for the commission of graft and corruption as well
as tax evasion.
1.1.4 That change by itself removed any authority for the DOF
to issue any sort of approval regarding the importation of
books into the country. Section 105 (s), as amended, clearly
provides that once the certifications were issued by the DECS, it
simply became a MINISTERIAL duty on the part of the Bureau
of Customs to allow the tax and duty-free entry into our
country of the imported books. Otherwise stated, the BOC
and/or its parent, the DOF had no authority to disallow the tax
and duty–free entry of the imported books once the DECS
certifications were already in place. The law did not give the
BOC/DOF any right to PREVENT the tax and duty-free entry
of the imported books once the DECS certification was
submitted. For the DOF to now argue otherwise would be to
arrogate unto itself legislative powers which it does not have.
1.1.5 Certainly, under the said previous law, the types of books
covered were only those of an economic, technical, vocational,
scientific, philosophical, historical or cultural nature. Thus,
going by the legal maxim “Expressio Unius Est Exclusio
Alterius” whereby the express mention of one thing means the
exclusion of all the others, it necessarily dictates that those
books that do not come under the types enumerated are not
covered by the DECS certifications and thus comes under the
general scope of the taxing powers of the DOF/BOC.
However, such is not the case with the DOF. Under the present
state of the law affecting the importation of books, the DOF has
not been given any authority at all to DISAPPROVE once the
importation of books has been given a go signal, so to speak,
by the NBDB. Therefore, it is abundantly clear that the DOF
simply has no authority and in fact has nothing to do with
regard to the importation of books except to impose no taxes
or duties on the same.
2.2 On the other hand, Section 105 (s) of the TCCP refers to
books and other publications that are of “Economic, technical,
vocational, scientific, philosophical, historical, and cultural”
and even religious nature. However, as clearly understood by
the lawmakers at the time RA 8047 was enacted, the
importation of books as an independent activity and as part of
the paradigm of “Book Development” is by itself tax and duty-
free. In other words, it is separate and entirely distinct from
importation of raw materials.
3.4 Had the lawmakers really intended to limit the tax and duty
free importation of books to those specific subjects as provided
under Sec. 105 of the TCCP, they could have easily done so.
Yet, it is clear as daylight that there was no limitation imposed.
It is thus conclusive that Republic Act No. 8047, which
specifically provides for an exclusion from the imposition of
taxes and duties on “books” per se already covers ALL types of
books, and not only those within the list provided under Sec.
105 (s) of TCCP. Thus, effectively, Section 12 of RA 8047, in
conjunction with Sec. 19 thereof, repealed by implication Sec.
105 (s) of the TCCP in that the two provisions cannot stand on
their own. The all encompassing scope of RA 8047 simply
trumps the limited scope of Sec. 105 (s) of the TCCP.
6.1 Sec. 105 (s) of the TCCP concerns itself only with the
importation of books that are of a specific nature, i.e.
educational, scientific, economic, technical, religious, etc.
Notably, RA 8047 was enacted subsequent to Sec. 105 (s) of
the TCCP.
6.2 It is a fact that RA 8047 has not provided for any definition
of the specific nature for the term “books”, except that it is a
“printed, non periodical publication of at least forty eight (48)
pages, exclusive of cover page, published in the country and
made available to the public”.
CONCLUSION: