Commentary

What happens when great minds leave?

According to a recent Gallup survey, about a quarter of all Filipino adults would live elsewhere permanently if they had the chance. Many of those who can already are. It's been estimated that about 10% of the population is living in some 200 different countries. Filipinos have long dominated emigration to Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, and the Middle East. But the largest recipient of the Philippine brain drain is the United States.

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Irrepairable damage

Supreme Court administrator and spokesperson Midas Marquez announced Friday that Chief Justice Renato Corona issued temporary restraining orders (TRO) blocking the implementation of a long-delayed toll rate increase for the Southern Luzon Expressway (SLEx) and the levying of 12% value added tax (VAT) on the toll. The reason cited for the imposition of the TROs was "irreparable damage to the public."

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Can the Philippines become the new regional center for MNCs?

Multinational corporations have located shared services facilities in the Philippines for three reasons, according to a recent study conducted by the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) and Hewitt Associates. The number one reason is the talent profile, as survey after survey on the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry tells us. People are at the core of the Philippines’ success.

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BPO optimism

Companies in the Philippines’ Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector are increasingly optimistic that their businesses will grow substantially in the next 12 months according to the most recent industry survey conducted by Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) and Outsource2Philippines (O2P). The survey also revealed that the shift to non-voice and more complex services continues to accelerate.

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Digital Nation?

Information serves as the fundamental element in any organization, serving as the primary driver of growth for the company. Making that information flow—efficiently and cost-effectively—is a challenge every enterprise has to deal with in order to attain targeted goals. -Michael Alan Hamlin

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Dream a little

With an approval rating of 85%, President Benigno C. Aquino III enjoyed a historic level of goodwill as he approached the rostrum Monday afternoon to deliver his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) as the 15th president of the Philippines. His speechwriters and handlers must have agonized over the approach the much-anticipated address should take. Yet the choice had to have been clear: Manage the high expectations of an adoring nation; or, inspire the nation.

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Timing is everything

Six days before the 90-day constitutional ban on appointments leading up to national elections, former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo appointed a nine-member board to oversee the Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan (AFAB), including its chairman, Mr. Deogracias Custodio. The Freeport was created with the passage of Republic Act 9721. The bill that led to the new law was principally authored by Congressman Albert S. Garcia, who represents the 2nd District of Bataan.

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Return on CSR

A client recently told me that two things stood out to him in talks with employees at the large outsourcing firm where he is an executive, and with prospective employees interviewing for jobs. First, he said, the agents and applicants he talked to said they were impressed with the firm because it offered a real career path for employees. That’s an important competitive advantage to have associated with an outsourcing brand.

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That's Cool, Jay

Jay Rosen (@jayrosen_nyu), a highly visible and outspoken journalism professor at New York University, recently spoke to World Bank communications officers. They had gathered from around the world to listen to Mr. Rosen speak about impression management—trying to control what others think of your brand—transparency, and "secrecy via complexity." I think that means purposeful obfuscation (Mr. Rosen would argue with that assumption.).

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What aren't up next for the Philippines?

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.

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