New game in town – business outsourcing

(For the week ending May 14, 2006)

President Arroyo is personally on top of the situation in seeing to it that the national disaster plan is on track to minimize loss of lives and damage to property In the wake of Typhoon Caloy. We sympathize with the victims of Typhoon Caloy and assure them of support and assistance. All hands of the national and local governments are on deck to check and warn of disaster-prone areas, provide relief and rehab to affected communities, assist stranded commuters and keep an eye on the prices of essential commodities. Government is ready for any contingencies and we appeal to the public to cooperate in heeding warnings and in joining relief operations.
Meanwhile, the President has instructed the MMDA to work closely with the DOTC, the DPWH and the concerned local authorities to check the giant billboards across the metropolis that could pose a serious threat to the public during strong typhoons.

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My admiration for Senator Miriam Santiago went several notches higher when I read that she is for charter change via the constituent assembly mode. As a senator, whose position might be adversely affected if the constituent assembly decides to abolish the senate, Miriam’s manifest selflessness is a fresh wind wafting away the political poison in the air and opening the doors to political renewal. It is really time to set aside self-interest.. Sacrifices are called for as we travel the road to economic and political stability that we need to take this nation forward in the 21st century.

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The new game in town is business process outsourcing (BPO), particularly call centers and other forms of outsourcing, such as medical transcription. Considered one of the brightest spots in our economy and symbols of our new competitiveness, the BPO industry has grown 26 per cent year on year.

Since BPO uses our greatest resource in the Philippines -- our people-- President Arroyo has pledged to continue to support the growth of call centers and BPO with policies that encourage the location of the right infrastructure and policies that upgrade the technical skills of our human resources, particularly at the grade school, high school and technical levels where we have made English the medium of instruction.

In line with this, P500 Million pesos in scholarships has been made available for "call center finishing schools" to aid both aspiring call center workers and BPO companies. At the recent inauguration of Telectech's largest BPO center in Cainta, President Arroyo cited Teletech's very high hiring rate of 21%, which is much higher than the national average.

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Here are some of the reason why we don’t agree with the findings of the IMD, putting the Philippines practically at the bottom of the list of competitive countries.
* Foreign portfolio investment into the Philippines rose 10% in April from the previous month
* Net foreign direct investment in the Philippines in February came in at $82 million compared with $25 million a year ago
* Philippine exports in March rose at their fastest rate since October 1999, rising 25.8 per cent from a year ago to $4.1 billion
* Output of the Philippines' agriculture sector rose 3. 94 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter
* Philippine inflation slowed in April to the lowest rate in five months, with the consumer price index rising 7.1 percent from a year earlier after a 7.6 percent gain in March
* Philippine foreign exchange reserves rose to a record in April, reaching $20.91 billion, higher than the $20.84 billion in March
* JP Morgan Securities Inc said it is upgrading the Philippines to "overweight" in both the emerging market and the Asia-Pacific categories because of the country's improving fiscal and economic outlook
* Bank of America raised its forecast for Philippine economic expansion this year to 5.3 percent from 4.7 percent
* CB Richard Ellis Philippines Inc. said Philippine the number of call-center seats may increase this year by 40,000 to 110,000

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Here is one reason why Subic is a favorite family destination. One never runs of out of interesting places to visit and things to do. The last time, we went there, I got to try swimming with the whales. The owner-operator of Ocean Adventure, John Corcoran and his wife, Mirriam, welcomed us early one Sunday morning at the only open sea aquarium in the world. We were first briefed on characteristics and habits of their wards, Tonka and Pounder, before donning safety vests and joining them in the water. Called pseudo orcas or false killer whale, Tonka and Pounder are, unlike their bigger look-alikes, very gentle, playful creatures. They can perform just about any trick, including squirting their unsuspecting guests in the face with gallons of water. The most thrilling part of the interaction, of course, was riding Tonka as he glided gracefully in the water at 35 kph. You should try it some time.
We take this opportunity to thank SBMA’s Gina Agustin, Nida Rojo, Sherwin Lacsamana and wife Myla for showing us around. Special thanks to William and Kate Devendorf and Zeny Mercado for their warm hospitality.

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Note: You may email us at totingbunye2000@yahoo.com