Taxing our Future

The UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines

expresses its objection to the imposition of taxes on
imported books and other reading materials. This action is a
blatant violation of the provisions of the 1950 Florence
Agreement on the Importation of Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Materials of which the Philippines is a signatory as
of 07 August 1979. Article 1 of the Agreement provides, “The
contracting States undertake not to apply customs duties or
other charges on, or in connection with, the importation of (a)
books, publications and documents…; (b) educational,
scientific and cultural materials…”

John Donaldson, UNESCO Senior Legal Officer based in

Paris , stresses, “The Philippines, as a Party to the Florence
Agreement, must respect the principle Pacta sunt servanda.
This fundamental principle of the law of treaties, enshrined in
the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties of 1969,
provides that treaties in force are binding upon the parties
and must be performed in good faith. It follows that if the
Philippines decides to apply custom duties or other charges
on the importation of materials coming from another State
Party, and for which the Florence Agreement foresees an
exemption, it will be in breach of its obligations under
this Agreement.” In addition to this, the Office of Legal
Affairs of the Dept. Of Foreign Affairs (OLA-DFA) submits
that DO No. 17-09 issued by the Dept. Of Finance is
contrary to RP’s obligations under the UNESCO Florence
Agreement and is inconsistent with its principle of free
exchange of ideas and knowledge.

As a member of the United Nations Educational, Scientific

and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for over 60 years, the
Philippines should remain steadfast in adhering to the
Organization’s principles and resolutions. The Philippines is
not only a founding member of good standing, it is one of the
few member-countries represented in the UNESCO
Executive Board, having been elected in this august body in
2007. Our moral ascendancy will be in question if we do not
hold fast to UNESCO’s mandate and principles.

UNESCO’s mandate includes promoting the right to

information as a fundamental human right. UNESCO also
envisions the emergence of “knowledge societies that are
inclusive, pluralistic, equitable, open and participatory.” The
UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines believes
that tax on imported books will undoubtedly limit access to
information and knowledge and curtail the free flow of
information. This imposition will also slow down if not obviate
our country’s efforts to become a knowledge society.

Moreover, the tax scheme has an inherent anti-poor bias as

it is the marginalized sectors that will be most adversely
affected by more expensive publications. Taxes on imported
books and other publications will definitely widen the
“knowledge divide” between the rich and poor sectors of
society and therefore run counter to UNESCO’s vision of
building an “inclusive” society.

Taxing imported books is tantamount to taxing reading

habits. At a time when parents and educators worldwide
have expressed alarm on the continuing steep decline in the
reading habits and practices especially among the young,
the tax measure is counterproductive to current initiatives to
rekindle a reading culture. The measure would surely further
discourage young and even old minds from appreciating,
recognizing and rediscovering the value of reading.
Even the advent of new information and communication
technology (ICT), particularly the Internet, cannot ensure our
people access to knowledge and information. While
UNESCO recognizes the key role of the Internet, it
emphasizes that the building of a knowledge society can be
attained by maximizing the use of both traditional and new
communication media channels in an open and free
environment. Furthermore, in our country, the very low
access to computers (2 for 100 individual) and negligible
Internet penetration (6 users per 100 inhabitants) highlight
the importance of books and other printed publications as
still the main sources of information and knowledge.

While we recognize and support the need by our revenue

agencies to identify new and additional sources of revenue
to fund development programs and services, we also call on
these agencies to refrain from taxing imported books that
feed the minds especially of our young generation. Such
action can only succeed in taxing our future.