HERE FOR THE IT LEGACY: VISIT TO BOOST BPO
By Carla N. Cañet & Edith B. Colmo

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo arrives inBacolod City today to visit Teleperformance, a well-known global expert in call center management, as part of her Cyber Corridor or Information Technology program.

Negros Occidental Provincial Governor Isidro P. Zayco, Silay City Mayor Jose Montelibano, 3rd District Rep. Jose Carlos Lacson, PNP Provincial Director Manuel Felix and CAAP Manager Felizardo Torralba will welcome the President upon her arrival at the airport.

She is expected to arrive 2 p.m. at the Silay-Bacolod airport and will immediately proceed to the Teleperformance Philippines Call Center on Magsaysay Avenue in Bacolod City.

At the reception party, she will be formally welcomed by Bacolod City Mayor Evelio R. Leonardia, Bacolod City Lone District Rep. Monico O. Puentevella, Atty. Jocelle Batapa-Sigue, Chair, National ICT Confederation of the Philippines (NICP) and Chair of the Bacolod-Negros Occidental Federation for ICT (BNEFIT), Junie Lizares, Manager, Luxur IT Park and David Rizzo, President of the Asia Pacific-Teleper-formance.

Mr. Rizzo will give the President and other guests a walking briefing while they are on a tour of the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) facility in what used to be the Bacolod Convention Plaza Hotel.

There will be a short program and the welcome remarks will be delivered by Mayor Leonardia, a message from Governor Zayco and a briefing on the information technology by Atty. Batapa-Sigue.

Meanwhile, Leonardia is happy that the President is coming for that purpose as the city has been recognized as among the major players in the Information Technology.

The operation of call centers in the city has created more or less 6,000-strong employment opportunities.

A lot of call centers see the potential of Bacolod and is a better option despite talks that the city is already saturated insofar as call centers are concerned.

We need to prepare our people all the more. Bacolod is already flying high with national recognition as the No. 1 most business-friendly city in the Philippines and among the five next wave cities in the Philippines.

Similarly, observers say the President’s arrival today will boost the business product outsourcing (BPO) in Bacolod City.

She is set to have a brief tour of the Teleperformance call center fronting the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) along Magsaysay Avenue on her arrival here.

At the Bacolod-Silay Airport, the President will be received 2 pm by Negros Occidental officials lead by Gov. Isidro Zayco, Third District Congressman Carlos Carlos Lacson, Provincial Police Director PSSupt. Manuel Felix, CAAP Manager Feli-zardo Torralba, Col. Maximo Caro - commanding officer, 303rd Infantry Brigade, Philippine Army, and Brig. General Pedro Sinajon, assistant division commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, representing Maj. Gen. Vicente Porto - commanding general.

From the airport, the presidential party will motor to Luxur’s Place where Teleperformance is located. At hand to welcome her are Bacolod City officials headed by Mayor Evelio Leonardia and Cong. Monico Puentevella, Bacolod Councilor Jocelle Batapa-Sigue, chair, National ICT Confederation of the Philippines (NICP), and Bacolod-Negros Occidental Federation for ICT (BNEFIT); Junie Lizares - manager, Luxur IT park, and David Rizzo - president, Asia Pacific Teleper-formance.

At Teleperformance, Mr. Rizzo will give the President and other guests a walking briefing about Teleperformance towards the BPO Lounge for a short program. Leonardia will deliver the opening remarks, Gov. Zayco for a message, and Counc. Sigue a briefing on information technology.

Afterwards, there will be an informal interaction with the media and take up some important local concerns.

Bacolod has been chosen by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) as potential IT Park in the Philippines.

In a short span of the time, several BPOs have been established here. Few of the Major BPOs presently operating in Bacolod are- Teletech, Teleperformance, Convergys, Focus, IO Asia, with the latest being Transcom City.

The emergence of BPOs in Bacolod has contributed in addressing the unemployment problems of the city. Each BPO employs not less than 2,000 call center agents excluding those assigned in the administrative services. This means call center operations are gaining grounds in Bacolod.

Last year, GMA also visited Teletech-Bacolod. Her visit to the BPOs here today means a lot to the BPO industry in this city.*