Osmeña assures BPOs: Cebu is the place to be

Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña meets with BPO leaders at the Sinulog Hall of the Rizal Library yesterday to assure them of the city’s full support in addressing all their problems (CDN PHOTO/CHRISTIAN MANINGO).

TELL your bosses not to pack your bags and go to America. Tell them to pack your bags and go to Cebu,” Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña told representatives of business process outsourcing (BPO) industry in a meeting called for yesterday following the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States.

Trump has promised to bring back jobs to the US and enforce tariffs on American companies who continue to outsource.

Osmeña, however, said that BPO workers can expect several programs from the Cebu City government and the private sector to make their jobs easier and more convenient.

“Call centers provide a great opportunity to our residents. So we’ll do everything within our power to protect your interest and more,” Osmeña said before a crowd of at least 65 BPO representatives from 38 different IT and BPO companies all over the city.

Osmeña’s advisor for business and economic development, Joel Yu, said that four main concerns of the BPO industry which needed to be addressed had been identified — transportation and traffic, security and safety, housing and a one-stop shop for processing employment papers.

The city, Yu said, is partnering with Cebu Holdings Inc. (CHI), which operates IT Park and Cebu Business Park (CBP), as well as Ceres Bus Liners so that buses can go into the two economic hubs.

Iris Josef-Mediano, vice president of CHI’s Business Development Group, said they are already working with the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to initially provide franchises to at least 18 buses for deployment before the year ends.

A survey conducted among 8,000 respondent BPO workers showed that around half of the workers were actually living outside Cebu City and would need two to four vehicle transfers to get to work.

For a minimum fare of P25 for the first 15 kilometers, there will be two bus lines, one in the north from Danao City and another in the south from Carcar City. Bus stations will be established along the routes until IT Park and CBP.

Yu said the city intends to increase police presence and visibility in the two areas through police outposts.

For housing, the city will coordinate with BPO companies to organize a database for available rooms and boarding houses near BPO centers, Yu said.

Spaces will also be provided where BPO employees can process requirements with the Pagibig, PhilHealth, Police clearance, NBI clearance and SSS for a one-stop shop.

With all these improvements, Osmeña remained confident that the city’s BPO industry will continue to flourish.

Osmeña encouraged the BPO representatives to contact his office for other concerns related to their operations especially since the IT and BPO industry continue to be the city’s major employment driver.

There are at least 22 IT facilities all over the city hosting 349 BPO companies and 160,037 employees producing P7.2 billion in salaries and wages per month.