CONSIDERED as the founding chairman of the National Book Development Board (NBDB), Dominador D. Buhain has expressed excitement that after a quarter of a century since Republic Act 8047, the Book Publishing Development Act was enacted, the local publishing industry has finally taken off after a prolonged struggle.

Recently, the Philippine Educational Publishers Association (PEPA), with support from the Philippine Book Development Federation (Philbook), launched the first Philippine Book Festival (PBF) at the World Trade Center solely with the participation of local book publishers.