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Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Batasan Hills, Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL No. _____ 
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Introduced by  
ACT Teachers Party-List Rep. FRANCE L. CASTRO,  
GABRIELA Women’s Party Rep. ARLENE D. BROSAS,  
and KABATAAN Party-List Rep. RAOUL DANNIEL A. MANUEL 
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AN ACT 
ESTABLISHING A SYSTEM FOR E-BOOK PUBLISHING, 
EMPOWERMENT, AND DEVELOPMENT ACT (SEPEDA) 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
When the pandemic forced schools to swiftly transition to online learning, the 
dearth of publicly accessible instructional materials in many disciplines and across all 
levels became more pronounced.  Students in elementary and high school, for instance, 
lost secondary, substitute, and additional reading materials and references that could 
have helped them in their studies while their teachers were forced to produce modules. 
Whatever the age, children and youth found themselves with relatively more time than 
usual—which could have been used as reading time were it not for the lack of access to 
and money for books.   
This, when some countries and entities such as the United States, the United 
Kingdom, the European Union, and even some of our neighbor countries have been 
providing open-access—that is, free and publicly accessible—electronic books or “e-
books” for years before. 
In these places, the widest dissemination of knowledge—so essential to quality 
education and cultivation of a culture of research—is ensured.  It is high time for our 
country to emulate the e-book publishing mindset, especially considering the fact that 
majority of our students and academics have neither the money to spend for books nor 
even the space in their homes to place them on.  But, doubtless, they have the greatest 
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potential to imbibe the knowledge from those books and use it to develop themselves, 
their families, and the nation. 
Hopefully, through a vibrant book publishing industry—including an e-book 
publishing industry—we can raise voracious readers and fervent reasearchers, first-rate 
teachers and critical thinkers.  This is a long-delayed update and follow-through to what 
were mandated 28 years ago by Republic Act 8047 or the Book Publishing Industry 
Development Act, such as the “creat[ion of] conditions conducive to development, 
production, and distribution of books, especially the acquisition and adoption of state-
of-the-art technology, equipment, and machineries on book publishing” among 
“ensur[ing] an adequate, affordable, and accessible supply of books for all segments of 
the population, to name a few. 
This bill will provide for a system that boosts a less expensive means for authors 
to make public and disemminate their knowledge, and will encourage academics and 
publishers to publish more open-access books.  This is one way of bringing out and 
elevating state support to Filipino authorship towards greater accessibility to books and 
learning references, increased quality of education, and a more robust culture of 
research. 
For the foregoing reasons, approval of this bill is earnestly sought. 
________________________________ 
Rep. FRANCE L. CASTRO 
ACT Teachers Party-List 
________________________________ 
Rep. ARLENE D. BROSAS 
GABRIELA Women’s Party 
________________________________ 
Rep. RAOUL DANNIEL A. MANUEL 
KABATAAN Party-List 


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Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Batasan Hills, Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL No. _____ 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Introduced by  
ACT Teachers Party-List Rep. FRANCE L. CASTRO,  
GABRIELA Women’s Party Rep. ARLENE D. BROSAS,  
and KABATAAN Party-List Rep. RAOUL DANNIEL A. MANUEL 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
AN ACT 
ESTABLISHING A SYSTEM FOR E-BOOK PUBLISHING, 
EMPOWERMENT, AND DEVELOPMENT ACT (SEPEDA) 
Be it enacted in the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled: 
SECTION 1. Title.  This Act shall be known as “The System for E-Book Publishing, 
Empowerment, and Development Act” (SEPEDA). 
SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy.  The policy of the State to uphold the vital role of 
communication and information in nation-building, as enshrined in Article II, Section 
24 of the 1987 Constitution, is hereby recognized and implemented. 
The policy of the State to promote the continuing development of the book 
publishing industry, with the active participation of the private sector, to ensure an 
adequate supply of affordable, quality-produced books, is hereby reiterated. 
SEC. 3. Coverage. This Act shall cover all public and private publishing enterprises. 
SEC. 4. National Library’s Online E-book Collection.  The National Library is hereby 
tasked to create and maintain the National Library’s Online E-book Collection, which 
will be the official repository for all e-books produced under this Act. 
SEC. 5. E-Book Production of Public Publishers. Public agencies that also function 
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as publishers are hereby mandated to produce open access e-book titles every year. 
 
SEC. 6. E-Book Production of Private Enterprises. Private publishing enterprises that 
would publish at least 20 open access e-book titles every year shall be eligible for tax 
incentives, subject to this law’s implementing rules and regulations. 
 
SEC. 7. E-Book Production of Individual Authors. The National Book Development 
Board (NBDB), in coordination with leading public and private higher education 
institutions in the country, is hereby mandated to devise a system that would allow 
individual authors to publish their works as open access e-books, with the NBDB as the 
publisher. 
SEC. 8. Compensation for Authors of Open Access E-Books Published by Public 
Agencies, including the NBDB. Subject to the implementing rules and regulations of 
this Act, authors shall be given compensation for every open access e-book published.  
SEC. 9. Implementing Rules and Regulations.  The National Library, the NBDB, 
Department of Education, Commission on Higher Education, Komisyon sa Wikang 
Filipino, and National Commission for Culture and the Arts, in consultation with 
representatives of teachers’ organizations, professional organizations, and publishers 
shall promulgate the rules and regulations necessary to implement this Act not later than 
ninety (90) days from the effectivity of this Act. 
 
SEC. 10. Separability Clause.  If any part or provision of this Act is held  
unconstitutional or invalid, the other parts or provision hereof which are not affected  
thereby shall continue to be in full force and effect.  
 
SEC. 11. Repealing Clause.  All laws, decrees, executive orders, proclamations, rules 
and regulations, and other issuances, or parts thereof which are inconsistent with the 
provisions of this Act, are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.  
 
SEC. 12. Effectivity.  This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in 
the Official Gazette or one (1) newspaper of general circulation. 
 
 
Approved,