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Tempting
Michael Alan Hamlin
To commemorate today’s inauguration of President-elect Benigno (Noynoy) S. Aquino III as the 15th president of the Philippines, I’m tempted to reveal partial results of a survey commissioned by the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) and Outsource2Philippines. Much of the survey is designed to gather baseline data about the status and development of the business process outsourcing industry, but it is also designed to elicit perspective on the relationship of the industry with government.
You’ll recall that in her farewell address to the nation, among the accomplishments enumerated by outgoing President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was the stunningly fast growth of the BPO industry, and the creation of close to half a million jobs. The BPAP-O2P survey will reveal whether the perspective of industry executives is aligned with that of Ms. Arroyo in terms of her government’s contribution to the industry’s development. (Disclosure: BPAP is a client of my firm, TeamAsia-which is conducting the survey-and I am an officer of O2P.)
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Posted
6/30/2010 12:28:29 PM |
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Not so Smartmatic
Michael Alan Hamlin
“I wanna know his family, I wanna know what he’s been working, you know, for the country, stuff like that,” 2008 Miss Universe and Smartmatic “Ambassador for Transparency” Dayana Mendoza responded to reporters last week when asked why she wanted to meet with President-elect Benigno “Noynoy” S. Aquino III. According to reports, Ms. Mendoza was invited to the Philippines to congratulate Filipinos on the successful conduct of the first nationwide automated elections in May.
Smartmatic provided approximately 76,000 vote-counting machines used in the election, which it hopes to now sell to the Philippine government following the successful election for the fire-sale price of P2 billion. The company is headquartered in Venezuela, where Ms. Mendoza was born and lives when she is not traveling the world as an ambassador and model. According to Smartmatic president for Asia Pacific Cesar Flores, the company invited Ms. Mendoza to the Philippines “as a gesture of appreciation to the people of the Philippines.
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Posted
6/23/2010 9:45:53 PM |
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What aren't up next for the Philippines?
Michael Alan Hamlin
Last week was punctuated by the proclamation of a new president who wasn’t considered presidential material a year ago. President-elect Benigo S. Aquino III followed in the footsteps of his mother, who established a precedent for unintended but successful presidential candidates. The president-elect is replacing a president who wasn’t in the view of many, since she assumed the presidency following the extra-constitutional overthrow of her predecessor.
That view was strengthened when out-going president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo allegedly cheated to win a subsequent election in which she had vowed not to run. Whether these events are viewed as predictable or unpredictable in the Philippine context, they demonstrate an amazing propensity for situations that “aren’t” anticipated to rapidly evolve into situations that “are” reality. Since the Philippines will inaugurate Mr. Aquino in two weeks, this is a good time to ask, “What aren’t supposed to happen with this administration, and what are likely to occur.
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Posted
6/18/2010 11:05:13 AM |
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Romulo Neri, scapegoat
Michael Alan Hamlin
About three years ago I sat with Romulo Neri over lunch following his appointment as chairman of the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd). The appointment was perceived by Mr. Neri’s friends as a slap in the face. While CHEd has an important mandate, Mr. Neri had previously been director-general of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), a powerful agency of the Philippine government that is responsible for economic strategy.
Mr. Neri’s friends-and pundits and other observers-believed that the long-serving former NEDA chief had been shunted aside for stonewalling an allegedly overpriced $329 million National Broadband Network (NBN) contract with China supplier ZTE, a firm with close ties to China’s military complex. The project was meant to link Philippine government agencies in a high-speed network at the time when broadband was just being introduced by private-sector telecom providers, and access fees were among the highest in the world.
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Posted
6/9/2010 1:19:28 PM |
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Empowering
Michael Alan Hamlin
Last year, remittances from overseas workers amounted to $17 billion, or 12% of gross domestic product. Remittances continue to expand, increasing 7% to $1.6 billion in the first quarter of 2010 according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. The contribution of overseas workers to the economy, election spending, and growth in business process outsourcing (BPO) together substantially account for the Philippine economy’s surprisingly robust 7.3% expansion in the first quarter.
But of these three engines of growth, one is dysfunctional, one largely non-recurring, and one subject to increasing competition in a tight labor environment. When a nation’s citizens flee the economy for high-paying jobs overseas, it’s a sign that government isn’t doing enough to create attractive jobs at home. Much of the election spending that takes place is probably sourced in a variety of ways from tax revenues, further straining cash-strapped government coffers.
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Posted
6/2/2010 9:51:54 AM |
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