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What would you say is your main contribution to the outsourcing and offshoring (O & O) industry?
Mainly, bringing in the investors and providing investment opportunities to the country. My role was to showcase Philippine capabilities and sell the Filipino people so that these investors – whether they are from US, Canada, Australia, Europe, or Asia – would set up or outsource to the Philippines.
As part of BPA/P, we cater to our members and respond to their needs, from marketing and promotions to government llobbying for laws and policies that affect our industries or working with the academe to bridge the gap between member requirements and academic curriculum. It’s making the members and industry players happy and able to continue to grow in the Philippines.
How did you get into the BPO?
I worked for Senator Mar Roxas and was in charge of his IT and BPO activities in the NCR in 2004. I was in charge of his national job fairs, like bringing 14 contact centers to Davao. During one of those job generation activities, the Board of BPA/P like Bong Borja, Karen Batungbacal, and Beth Lui asked me to join the BPA/P as its Executive Director. They asked Mar Roxas permission. He agreed because he is one of the forefathers of the BPA/P. He pushed for the merger of a couple of associations that formed BPA/P, the umbrella organization.
Tell us more about Logica, your new company.
They are a non-voice player and specialize in the non-voice side like finance, accounting, software development and maintenance. Logica CMG is UK or Europe-owned. It has 40,000 seats and 39 sites around the world and has a revenue of around 3 million pounds for 2007.
Neil Elias, the Country Manager, used to be one of my board directors in BPA/P and knew me very well. What also attracted me is the work environment and how Logica’s trust is enabling the employees; it’s like they are working for a big family. In the Philippines, Logica started 11 months ago and has grown to 250 seats. My target for December 2008 is to hit a thousand seats. That’s 15,000 new employees.
I report to the UK and am part of the global business development team. I am in charge of the US market and the Asia-Pacific region. Besides tapping them for new leads, my role is to go to seven countries in Europe where Logica exists and showcase the Philippines so I can migrate their services here.
What is your main fulfillment in this kind of work?
I love selling the Philippines and the Filipino people. I like providing employment opportunities.
And how do they respond to your sales pitch?
We are very sellable. From voice, non-voice, game development, engineering design, you name it. Our growth in voice has been tremendous from 50 to 60 percent every year. The other sectors are also growing, from 35 to 40 percent. Right now, we are very popular for voice, but the next big thing for the Philippines is BPO non-voice. This is finance and accounting, HR, insurance, procurement, and legal services.
We’ve been ranked among the best accountants in the world. We’ve been ranked #2 in the whole O & O industry, next to India. My vision is to grow the operations in the Philippines.
Is the bad press we’ve been getting from the global media outfits a problem?
It’s a problem of perception. We only come out in the news abroad if there is bad news like a bombing. When I’m overseas, first, I do a country perception, show how the economy is going, how good are our infrastructure and our talent pool. I do an industry presentation which shows our capabilities. Then I do the company presentation which showcases our company’s abilities. The challenge is getting these investors to step into the Philippines. Once they do that, they’re sold on us. Tapos na ang kuwento. [It’s a done deal.]
Most European countries still see us in terms of white sand beaches and coconuts. They don’t know that we are very strong in the O & O.
How stiff a competition do we face from India?
The market is so huge that there’s no such thing as competition. The addressable BPO market is going to reach US$130 billion and we’ve only tapped 5 percent. India only taps 16 percent. Most companies are willing to reach mitigation and diversification; they will set up in the Philippines as well as India.
The good thing about being second best is that we learn from India. Whatever issues they are tackling now, we are making iinitiatives so that we don’t hit those problems in the future.
How will the U.S. recession impact the industry?
The U.S. recession won’t affect the industry. In my opinion, [the American companies] will outsource more. It may create a major cut in the margins of the BPO industry because the peso is getting stronger. But work goes on, and the companies have good flexibility to renegotiate their contracts.
Three years back, I used to sell the Philippines as a low-cost destination; but since a year ago, I’ve been selling the Philippines because of the quality of service provided.
Tell us about your career path and how it prepared you for this kind of work.
I graduated from the College of Notre Dame in the U.S. with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management. My parents asked me to come back home. My family has been in politics for a long time, and they’ve been wanting me to take their place in vying for a seat in Congress in Ormoc, Leyte. It never felt like a career to me, but it was the best option at that time. Maybe it’s because of my personality; I like to help people. Unfortunately, I ran against the incumbent congressman and, fresh off the boat, I lost. Then Mar Roxas hired me and sponsored my graduate degree in Public Management in the Ateneo School of Government.
I managed a call center in the US for three years and worked in Apple Computers also for 3 years. My background is in IT.
When I started with BPA/P, I realized that my career is in the O & O industry, and that I should set myself up one day as a country manager of a BPO.
Tell us about your management style.
It’s really enriching your people so they can become managers themselves. I don’t necessarily tell my people what to do but I ask them how they can improve the [situation]. I make decisions from there. I am very people-oriented and have a strong sense of public relations.
What advice would you give to younger executives who want to reach the same heights?
Wherever you are assigned, work hard to the best of your capabilities. I used to work 12-14 hours a day.
Another vital element is passion. I sell the country and the Filipino people with passion. Out of my two years in BPA/P convincing investors to set up shop in the Philippines, only three said “No.” [Editor’s note: That means approximately 189 companies out of 192 said yes.] The companies that did say yes are new investors, vendors to support the BPOs or clients of existing BPOs.
After the first year of doing it, I got my confidence. I know what’s happening to the industry and I know everybody. I can compare countries and answer any question from infrastructure to talent pool to government support.
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