Ayala Foundation, FILCOLS celebrate Philippine Book Development Month 2016

The Filipinas Copyright Licensing Society, Inc. (FILCOLS) and Ayala Foundation will celebrate Philippine Book Development Month 2016 with a simple event from 1 to 4 p.m. on Friday, 25 November at the Ground Floor Lobby, Ayala Museum, Makati City.

“FILCOLS Distribution for Rightsholders and Partnership with Ayala Foundation” will signal the start of distribution of remuneration for authors, heirs of authors, and publishers. The bulk of the license fees collected by FILCOLS were from the Department of Education (DepEd) for the re-use of Filipino works in the learning resources for Grades 2, 3, 8, and 9. 

Recognizing the need to support Filipino authors and other copyright owners, Ayala Foundation, a revered name among corporate foundations, will sign a licensing agreement with FILCOLS for the secondary use of works through mass digital and photocopying inside the Filipinas Heritage Library and the Ayala Museum. A small license fee will be paid on a two-year period which will then be distributed to righstholders after deducting FILCOLS’s administration costs.

Established in 1961 and renamed in 1990, Ayala Foundation is the social development arm of the Ayala Corporation. Committed to improve the lives of Filipinos, Ayala Foundation embarked on innovative programs for education, leadership, livelihood, arts, and culture.

FILCOLS is the government accredited collective management organization (CMO) in the text and image sector. FILCOLS supports the publishing industry by licensing the secondary use of copyrighted works for mass uses inside institutions.

Aside from the license fees collected from DepEd, FILCOLS will also distribute remuneration it received from its sister societies abroad. Australia’s Copyright Agency-Viscopy and the Copyright Licensing and Administration Society of Singapore (CLASS) remitted to FILCOLS, on various dates, remuneration for Filipino works used by their licensees. 

Under Australian and Singaporean copyright law, institutions must pay license fees for the re-use, through large-scale digital and photocopying, of books, journals, newspapers, and websites. Under these institutions are schools, universities, technical vocational (tech-voc) or polytechnic, businesses, government, and other organizations.

FILCOLS was established in 2008 by the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines, National Book Development Board, Book Development Association of the Philippines, and the Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas. Its founding chair was National Artist for Literature Virgilio S. Almario.

FILCOLS is currently headed by its chair Dr. Jose Y. Dalisay, Jr. Other Trustees are Ricky Lee, Karina Bolasco, Beverly Siy, Dr. Rebecca Anonuevo, Dr. John Jack Wigley, Marne Kilates, and Jose Paolo Sibal. The Secretariat is led by executive director Alvin J. Buenaventura.

Text and photos by Alvin J. Buenaventura. This may be re-posted as long as the author is acknowledged.

More than 58 percent of car parts bought online are fake, says UK expert

Kick-off activity at the start of the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Week: 6th Philippine Anti-Counterfeiting and Piracy Summit at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel, Mandaluyong City. (Photo by AJB)

Substandard car parts contribute to accidents and loss of lives in the United Kingdom as David Lowe revealed that 58% of materials bought online are fake. 

The counterfeit car parts cost the UK automotive industry GBP 28 billion (PHP 1.6 trillion). The cost does not include the loss of lives and damages as a result of use of defective car parts.

David Lowe is the head of the Intellectual Property (IP) Enforcement Capacity and Delivery of the UK Intellectual Property Office. He is one of the resource persons invited by the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) to grace its IPR Week celebrations which started with the 6^th Philippine Anti-Counterfeiting and Piracy Summit at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel, Mandaluyong City on October 24, 2016.

Lowe added that the UK publishing industry also suffered as more than 100 million magazines were illegally downloaded in 2014. 

With the summit’s theme “Advocating IPR Protection and Enforcement in Governance,” IPOPHL Director General Josephine R. Santiago reported on the gains, challenges, and plans for IPR in the Philippines.

Director General Santiago highlighted the 4% growth in the filing of IP cases from 526 (2013) to 643 (2015). She also noted the 2% growth in resolved cases from 510 (2013) to 551 (2015).

The detailed IPR Action Plan 2017-2022 was presented by IPOPHL Deputy Director General Allan B. Gepty. He pointed on the need to intensify IP education in the country.

Gepty explained that aside from the IPOPHL-backed Young IP Advocates (YIPA), the agency will spearhead the expansion of IP advocates in schools and universities. These students will be included in the regular trainings and seminars on IP.

He mentioned that a policy must be made to require schools and universities to include IPR education and awareness in their curricula. The policy must be crafted by the Department of Education (DepEd) which oversees basic education and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) for colleges and universities.

Director Carmen G. Peralta of IPOPHL’s Documentation, Information and Technology Transfer Bureau presented the highlights of the 4^th IP Youth Camp held in Davao City. 

To date, YIPA has inducted 85 secondary school students in its membership. The total network of schools nationwide is 27. 

Delegates from various public and private sector organizations. (l-r) two officials from the Bureau of Customs, Civil Service Commission director Ariel Villanueva and companion, Alvin J. Buenaventura, Ranielle S. Espiridion, and four officials from the Quezon City Hall. (Photo by IPOPHL staff).

In support of the IPOPHL’s IPR Week celebrations, the Filipinas Copyright Licensing Society, Inc. (FILCOLS) Executive Director AlvinJ. Buenaventura and Staff Ranielle S. Espiridion participated as delegates to the summit.

FILCOLS is the second collective management organization (CMO) accredited by the IPOPHL in 2014. The accreditation of CMOs was included in the amendments (RA 10372) to the IP Code which was enacted by then President Benigno S. Aquino in 2013.

 Text by Alvin J. Buenaventura. Photos by Alvin J. Buenaventura and IPOPHL staff Richmond A. De Leon. This may be re-posted as long as the authors are acknowledged.

Tackling challenges head on at the PH Education Summit 2016

“Should K-12 be supported or opposed?” “How can the government provide learning resources when there is a shortage of classrooms, a number of which are damaged during typhoons?” “How can the education department raise teaching standards when teachers get measly salaries and many opt to work abroad instead?” “What should universities do to join the ranks of top-ranking higher educational institutions?” These are some of the issues that need to be raised in the Philippine Education Summit 2016 which started today November 3 at the SMX, Mall of Asia, Pasay City.

Education stakeholders gather at the start of the Philippine Education Summit 2016. (Photo by AJB)

It took a long time for the Philippines to adjust its basic education to the globally practiced K-12. The Philippines clung to K-10 until the passing of the 2013 Enhanced Basic Education Act (RA 10533). 

The new law however did not end the debate. Anti-K-12 proponents presented various petitions to the Supreme Court. Some of the reasons presented were: K-12 is anti-poor, unconstitutional, anti-labor,unpatriotic, and anti-Filipino. The petitioners were not deterred despite the fact that the Philippines is the only country in Asia to have K-10 and until recently was part of the old company with African countries Angola and Djibouti.

In March 2016, the Supreme Court rejected various petitions against K-12. Aside from the controversial K-12, the Philippine Education Summit 2016 will also look at the various issues facing technical-vocational (tech-voc) and higher education.

Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno. (Photo by AJB)

The main problem of the education agencies over the years has been the lack of money. 

In his opening remarks, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno presented a different picture and said “Our problem is we may not be able to spend all the money before the term of President Duterte ends.” He added that the Philippine budget for 2017 is PHP 3.35 trillion (USD 67.7 billion). This means the budget will steadily rise for the next six years. He assured the participants that the current administration fully supports education.

FILCOLS executive director Alvin J. Buenaventura with DepEd's Cynthia Villafranca.
(Photo by DepEd's Joergette Razielle M. Regadio)

The two-day event brought under one roof 500 selected education stakeholders from all over the Philippines. FILCOLS executive director Alvin J. Buenaventura was one of the stakeholders invited to the education summit. FILCOLS is the government-accredited collective management organization (CMO) for printed works.

Various government agencies participated in the summit. (Photo by AJB)

The Philippine Education Summit 2016 was jointly convened by the country’s top education agencies: Department of Education (DepEd) which handles basic education and alternative learning systems (ALS), CHED which handles HEIs including SUCs, and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) which handles technical-vocational (tech-voc) education. Support was provided by the Australian Aid – Basic Education Sector Transformation (BEST).

Text by Alvin J. Buenaventura.  Photos by AJB and Joergette Razielle M. Regadio. Text and photos may be re-posted as long as the authors are acknowledged.