Comments on: The Great Philippine Book Blockade of 2009 http://manila.metblogs.com/2009/05/20/the-great-philippine-book-blockade-of-2009/ Sun, 02 Aug 2009 17:51:31 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: digitalron http://manila.metblogs.com/2009/05/20/the-great-philippine-book-blockade-of-2009/comment-page-1/#comment-2027 digitalron Thu, 11 Jun 2009 12:50:47 +0000 http://manila.metblogs.com/?p=1129#comment-2027 I remember boarding the Doulos way back in 2002... and then spending six or seven hours wandering about the different book sections. Although quite a bit of the books that caught my eye were circa 1980s and 1990s (about management, marketing, economics, technology, etc), these were of much better quality (both physically and content-wise) than the locally-authored and published ones. I ended up spending around Php 10,000 to bring home four bags full of books, which I still reckon was money well spent as a result of hours of pleasurable reading, not to mention the many thanks I've got from the recipients of those books I gave away as gifts. Reading Mr. Hemley's article makes me sad -- no, indignant -- because for a country posturing as educated and strong in the English language, we're doing such a dismal job in making books available en masse... and this is not just being about an issue of cost: it has become a social, cultural, and political issue because government officials have seen it fit to give utmost importance to meeting collection quotas over anything else. So I, whose salary has been taxed handsomely, end up paying more for a book because it has been taxed beforehand (quite heavily I may add) as well. That's the Philippines... land of the tax and the fee. I remember boarding the Doulos way back in 2002… and then spending six or seven hours wandering about the different book sections. Although quite a bit of the books that caught my eye were circa 1980s and 1990s (about management, marketing, economics, technology, etc), these were of much better quality (both physically and content-wise) than the locally-authored and published ones. I ended up spending around Php 10,000 to bring home four bags full of books, which I still reckon was money well spent as a result of hours of pleasurable reading, not to mention the many thanks I’ve got from the recipients of those books I gave away as gifts.

Reading Mr. Hemley’s article makes me sad — no, indignant — because for a country posturing as educated and strong in the English language, we’re doing such a dismal job in making books available en masse… and this is not just being about an issue of cost: it has become a social, cultural, and political issue because government officials have seen it fit to give utmost importance to meeting collection quotas over anything else. So I, whose salary has been taxed handsomely, end up paying more for a book because it has been taxed beforehand (quite heavily I may add) as well.

That’s the Philippines… land of the tax and the fee.

]]> By: The Great Book Blockade of 2009: Timeline and Readings (updated) : Manuel L. Quezon III: The Daily Dose http://manila.metblogs.com/2009/05/20/the-great-philippine-book-blockade-of-2009/comment-page-1/#comment-2026 The Great Book Blockade of 2009: Timeline and Readings (updated) : Manuel L. Quezon III: The Daily Dose Wed, 20 May 2009 03:33:49 +0000 http://manila.metblogs.com/?p=1129#comment-2026 [...] a Catalyst, life most ordinary, Life is like a game of poker, Lifestyle Discord, Love and Choices, Manila Metblogs, Mark’s Scrapbook of Oddities & Treasures, MetaFilter, mzeid, Mnemosyne Writes, [...] [...] a Catalyst, life most ordinary, Life is like a game of poker, Lifestyle Discord, Love and Choices, Manila Metblogs, Mark’s Scrapbook of Oddities & Treasures, MetaFilter, mzeid, Mnemosyne Writes, [...]

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