Mar Roxas: Father Of The Philippine BPO Industry

MANILA: According to you, John Paolo Bencito & Christine Herrera, "BPO Industry pioneer: Gloria, not Mar, did it" (08 March 2016, Manila Standard Today, manilastandardtoday.com). Hmm, gentleman & lady, sorry to say but you have 2 errors there. 1st error, grammatical: The word "pioneer" is used here as a noun, not a verb, so it should read, "BPO Industry pioneer: Gloria was it, not Mar." 2nd error, factual: In fact, Mar Roxas was the pioneer, not GMA. In fact, your own report of 575 words, excluding title and authors, proves my contention! A fish is caught by its own mouth.

I will now quote the relevant portions of your report:

Administration candidate Manuel Roxas II insisted on Saturday that he was the "Father of the IT-BPO sector," but an industry pioneer disputed the claim and said the credit should go to former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Speaking before a group of call center agents in Muntinlupa City, Roxas insisted that he started the local business process outsourcing industry when he was still Secretary of Trade and Industry during the Arroyo administration.

"We started and expanded this BPO sector when I was still DTI Chief. I still remember that people would laugh at me as they did not understand what are call centers, or IT-BPOs. But now, you can see that more than one million jobs and livelihood (have been) created," Roxas said.

"There’s really a big impact to our economy, and I am overjoyed for the support and trust that they have given me and our countrymen can expect that the development of call centers, IT-BPO sector will give relief to our countrymen," Roxas said.

However, industry pioneer Oscar Sañez, who led (the) IT and Business Processing Association of the Philippines from 2007 to 2011, disputed Roxas’ claim and said the industry’s phenomenal growth should go to Arroyo.

Note, gentleman & lady, in your own words: "the industry's phenomenal growth should go to Arroyo" – and I agree with you 100%. Give credit to whom credit is due.

But that is not what we are talking about here; now comes the English lesson; the subject is "the pioneering days" and not "the growing days" or "phenomenal growth" – get it? Only after the seed had been sown could you expect growth, not before. So, who planted the seed so that it would germinate and the plantlet would grow until it bore fruits?

"Oscar Sañez ... disputed Roxas' claim and said the industry's phenomenal growth should go to Arroyo" – as the statement stands, Mr Oscar is like saying, the BPO industry started and immediately had phenomenal growth under GMA, which is absurd. If you insist, you are saying that GMA was Jack and the BPO industry was the bean seed that grew overnight. That is fairy tale!

(Sañez) said the Arroyo administration’s support to the industry included the creation of the ITBPAP, creation of  the Commission on Information and Communication Technology, providing investor support through the accreditation of buildings used by the industry, completion of infrastructure projects like airports, and training vouchers from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority worth over P800 million from 2007-09.

So, Mr Oscar, you are right in what you're saying, "The industry's phenomenal growth should go to Arroyo" – but you and the gentleman & lady are wrong when you claim, in effect, "the industry's pioneering days should go to Arroyo." Note the phrases "pioneering days" and "phenomenal growth" – of course, the early days and the glory days are not the same.

As far as I know, GMA didn't know anything about computers, so how could she have started the BPO industry?! She supported it when it was already and obviously growing, to her favor.

So how did Mar Roxas pioneer the BPO industry in the Philippines? About this, I have written (see my essay, "Considering Mar Roxas," 12 March 2016, Vices, Presidents, blogspot.in). He authored RA 8748 (1999), which encouraged establishments to operate in ecozones. He authored RA 8756 (1999), which encouraged multinationals to set up shop in the country. He authored RA 8792 (2000), the Electronic Commerce Act, which "made the country a legitimate player in the global marketplace," according to Digital Filipino (digitalfilipino.com).

I now quote myself in that essay mentioned above:

Without an e-commerce law, the Philippines cannot grow in the global marketplace. It was Roxas who saw its need and pursued its fulfillment. That should make him a true statesman.

Another fellow, Jacques Phillip has this to say against Mar Roxas' claim to fame (08 October 2015, The Stagnant Filipino, thestagnantfilipino.com):

The so-called BPO industry had already landed here in early 1996. And by the early 2000’s, saw itself become more entrenched. Especially since India had lost its legendary hold on it. And one of the reasons was their very intense accent.

And so, Mr Jacques says, the Americans looked elsewhere for call center agents and discovered the Filipinos who while speaking in English "don't have much of a noticeable accent in their voices" compared to the Indians. And so the Philippines became #1 in the call center industry.

Mr Jacques either did not do diligent search or ignored what he found, among others, that the 3 laws I mentioned above that Mar Roxas authored encouraged the growth of the BPO industry in this country. How did he author such laws? He was Senator already in those years.

In my diligent search, I found added confirmation of what I am saying here, not that I needed the confirmation. The Purple Plum Fairy says (Vance Madrid, 15 March 2016, "Mar Roxas: The Father of BPO Industry in the Philippines, purpleplumfairy.com, which is the source of the image above):

At the time when Roxas was the Secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry, he conceptualized and made true his vision of making the country the hub of BPO offices despite the 1997 Asian financial crisis. This was the very reason that attracted multinational firms to invest and outsource their firms in the Philippines.

Ms Vangie also says that when he became Senator, Mar Roxas helped lobby in Congress for RA 7916 "so that buildings could be registered as ecozone(s) and thereby exempt(ed) BPO companies from paying national and local taxes." The offshoot of this? "This was the very reason that attracted multinational firms to invest and outsource their firms in the Philippines."

I have 2 children in the call center industry, 1 daughter-in-law. So, being the Father of the BPO industry in the Philippines makes Mar Roxas my President.