BUSINESS IS STILL ON THE GO IN MINDANAO

We are surrounded with news reports about the current peace situation in some of the areas which are a part of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). Again, as a Mindanaoan, I refused to say that the entire Mindanao is in trouble. However, we cannot discount the fact that whenever ARMM is wounded, the entire Mindanao bleeds. We are angered and at the same time very, very disappointed at the way the peace issues and concerns are being handled. There are just too many players from government, military, politicians with varied interests who are all dipping their hands into the problems. And the irony is that, most of them are not from Mindanao or have never even been to any of the ARMM areas.

I am very passionate about being from Mindanao; wherever I go, whether here or out of the country, I always tell business people I meet how beautiful and how comfortable life is in Mindanao. That Davao City is a perfect blend between urban and country life.

Yesterday, I was interviewed for a magazine that will be published by Go Negosyo where forty (40) businesswomen will be featured. I was asked by the writer whether I am planning to expand my school businesses in Manila and without batting an eyelash, I said that my pre-school, Tumble Tots and JiB eAcademy will be my only schools in Manila; my plans for expansion will be in Mindanao because I believe in the potentials of the island and besides I am a Mindanaoan.

Mindanao Today

Despite the bad publicity that it is getting due to the aborted signing of the controversial memorandum of agreement on the ancestral domain between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Mindanao ‘s business and agriculture sector is upbeat.

In 2007, Mindanao has a population of approximately 18 million ; and an inflation rate of 3%; much lower than the national inflation rate which is around 5%-6%. Our balance of trade is USD 1.5 million; exports at USD 2.4 million and imports at USD 1.2 million.

Topping our agricultural exports are bananas at USD 401million; coconut oil or copra , USD 366M; pineapples, fresh and preserved, USD160M; dessicated coconut, USD 46M and of course tuna at USD54.55M. The top ten export destinations are Japan because of our bananas and tuna; USA, Netherlands, Korea, Taiwan, China, Malaysia. Singapore, United Arab Emirates and Iran

FEEDING MINDANAO (RICE AND CORN)

The data from the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics showed that Mindanao posted increases in corn and rice production with corn harvest registering about one-fourth higher than the volume during the same period last year. A notable improvement, indeed.

The data showed that rice production during the period increased about 4.78 percent to 999, 212 metric tons during the period from 953,metric 623 tons during the same period last year.

The highest growth in rice production was registered in the Caraga Region with 12.85 percent, although Central Mindanao was still the biggest producer during the period with 38 percent of the total production.

Corn production, on the other hand, was at a high of 883,409 metric tons during the period, way above the 722,269 metric tons produced during the first quarter last year. Again, Caraga registered the highest growth at 56.55 percent, but Northern Mindanao produced 36 percent of the total production, followed by Central Mindanao with 32 percent.

Production of rice and corn is expected to be sustained as the national government is rehabilitating irrigation systems in the island that will cover 2,000 hectares of rice fields.

The data also revealed that fisheries production for Mindanao was at a high of P18.83 billion with about 618,976.03 metric tons. Highest contributor to the production during the period was aquaculture at 342,356.41 metric tons. In value, fish production during the quarter hit P18.63 billion, although the biggest producers were the commercial fishing companies.

(Joji Ilagan Bian is a strong and respected advocate for the development of the region. She is Chair of Joji Ilagan Foundation ( www.jojiilagancareercenter.com) ; President , Phil. Call Centers Alliance and Mindanao Tech Voc Schools Association; Mindanao Rep, Export Development Council. Email comments jojibian2@yahoo.com)

CALL CENTER FOR MUSLIMS

It’s the call center era nowadays. We see call centers sprout like mushrooms in our country, and more Filipinos are getting trained or employed as call center agents.

At a time when U.S. companies are increasingly going abroad to source "sophisticated, mission-critical functions" because of a shortage of highly educated professionals in developed countries, the Philippines has become one of the preferred destination for these American companies, according to a study by Duke University, in North Carolina, and the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton.

And for good reasons because the Philippines has one of the highest literacy rates in the East Asian and Pacific area, with 92% of the population 10 years of age and older are literate. For these companies seeking to outsource, lower costs, high literacy rate, culture, and employee loyalty are the country's appealing factors.

Filipinos are more attuned to Western culture than most Asians; majority of the population can understand and speak English, thanks to a long history of contact with the United States, including several decades of American colonial rule. Call center employees find it easy to relate to Westerners and adapt to a variety of accents. Most call center employees receive intensive training to acquire the accent of the country that they will be calling.

In Mindanao, the call center industry has only just begun. Cagayan de Oro has three of the 10 call centers in Mindanao with over 800 call center representatives, while Davao has over 700 employees from three call centers. This growth is expected to double by next year.

The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) is also catching up in the call center boon. There’s a huge labor potential in the ARMM for call center and business outsourcing. This labor force could cater to the Middle East companies.

In response to this untapped potential of the Muslims to work as call center agents, a Davao-base Call Center and Language School , trained native Muslims in Barangay Waan, Cabantian, Davao City in partnership with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and the Barangay officials. Waan is predominantly populated by Muslims and is an hour drive from the city proper. The free training aimed to create awareness and expose our fellow Muslim brothers and sisters to the best-in-class call center management technology that leads to better coaching and performance.

It started last November 6, 2006 with four (4) weeks focusing on English Language Proficiency lessons and an additional month long training in call center operations where they had hands-on-experience in making and answering calls.

All 51 participants are college graduates; some have a career in teaching and banking already, while others are unemployed. Now that they finished their basic call center training, a new door has opened for them.

The Muslim graduates are now very happy with their achievements ; they will have more access to job opportunities in the business process outsource sector with their newly found skills- English grammar, pronunciation, articulation and diction.

One student expressed that she can now use her speaking skills in dealing with their foreign customers at the bank, although she is open to a career in the call center industry. Another student, currently teaching Arabic studies in Waan, is excited to apply his learnings to his current profession.

Among the major challenges they encountered when the program was just starting was speaking with a neutral accent. They now boast of an improved accent, and higher self confidence in public speaking than when they first started.

This recently concluded training has now disproved the prevailing notion that ARMM workers have low level of skills and are not trainable. Provided with proper access to ICT and the right training, I believe that workers in the region are source of huge economic potentials that remain untapped until now. We want to prove that the ARMM is also a source of highly trainable and world competitive human resources. All we need to do is give the people access to technology and harness their potentials.

Establishing contact centers in Muslim Mindanao will help generate sustainable jobs, reduce unemployment rate, and eventually bring down poverty level in the region where armed conflict has slowed progress in the past.

The ARMM has consistently had the highest rate of poverty incidence in the country, reaching 71.3 in 2000. Although the poverty incidence decreased to 53.1 in 2003 (all regions registered lower rates of poverty incidence during this year), the ARMM remains the poorest region in the country.

The pilot training in Waan show that Muslims too are interested in the call center training and perhaps in the future – a call center may decide to locate in the ARMM.

(Joji Ilagan Bian is a strong advocate for Mindanao ; Chair, Mindanaworld Foundation Inc; Mindanao TVET; Mindanao Rep , Export Development Council ; Chair , Joji Ilagan Foundation ; Former Chair of the Mindanao Business Council. Email comments to jojibian2@yahoo.com)