A bill that plans to create the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) has already passed on for third reading in the House of Representatives. The DICT bill or House Bill 4667 seeks to boost and improve the country’s IT facilities by being the agency tasked in developing and implementing IT policies and government programs.

Chairman of the House ICT Committee and Taguig 2^nd District Representative Freddie R. Tiñga, said that the approval of the bill would also be the answer for the country’s need for an agency responsible for IT and communication facilities.

According to an article published by The New York Times, The Philippines is now the “New Capital of Call Centers”, a position previously associated with India. This is due to the continuing growth of call centers in the Philippines, which was also labeled as the “revolution” that has “reshaped the call center business” in the world. According to the article, the Philippines call center demographic is mostly made up of young people who speak lightly accented English” and are very well oriented with the American culture.

Even if the outlook towards the local IT-BPO remains positive to very positive by the respondents of a recent survey by the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) and Outsource2Philippines (O2P), both organizations related with outsourcing Philippines, stated that the BPO-IT industry needs greater visibility both locally and internationally for the industry to meet high-end growth targets.

According to the 179 executives surveyed, more than just settling at the idea that the country is being optimistic about the growth of the industry, the BPO industry and the Philippine government still need to do more than just “sell” the industry. The BPO industry should also sell the attributes and opportunities for potential offshore staff and their influencers more while the Philippine government should create a plan to increase the visibility of local IT-BPO industries and its capabilities.

Philippine real estate firm, KMC MAG Group has released its real estate market report Philippines or the real estate market research Manila for the Q3 of 2011.

The report contains summaries of the trends in commercial and residential real estate, as well as an office market overview in Metro Manila .

According to the report, the trend for the Q3 of 2011 are that rental rates of commercial spaces rose due to the increasing demand and low vacancy rates while the demand for residentials spaces surpassed the supply in the luxury residential market due to investments of the OFW and expat community. Also, the continuous construction of residential real estates has increased the overall vacancy rate in Metro Manila.

A series of bills in the House of Representatives seeks to make the BPO industry in the Philippines, which includes call centers in the Philippines, more attractive to potential investors.

According to House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., among the bills already “moving” inside the House of Representatives are the Data Privacy Act, creation of the Department of Information and Communication Technology, and the Anti-Cyber Crime Act. These bills seeks to boost the position of offshoring Philippines.

Former President and incumbent Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her son, Camarines Sur Rep. Diosdado Arroyo, have filed a bill demanding more protection for the over 400,000 workers of Philippine business process outsourcing (BPO) or Philippine call centers

The lawmakers have filed House Bill 5218, or the Magna Carta for Call Center Workers, which enumerates the rights of offshore staff in the Philippines such as call center agents and protect the interest and welfare of its workers.

“It is in the interest of the BPO companies themselves to protect their workers who are their most important resource,” the younger Arroyo said in a statement.

by: Jason dela Torre

In a bid to renew investor confidence and create more job opportunities to bolster the Philippine economy, President Benigno Aquino III is expected to pursue public-private partnerships in the financing and construction of key government infrastructure projects. The Aquino administration believes that public-partnerships are crucial to reducing the Philippines’ growing budget deficit, and ensuring the financial mobility of local governments in setting up infrastructure projects geared toward the overall improvement of their respective communities. Aquino is optimistic that in spite of his government’s lack of funding, their economic goals will be achieved through the institution of public-private partnerships in different sectors.

Subic Bay, Philippines is bordered on the east by Zambales mountains and the South China Sea on the west. A former US Naval base, Subic is now a freeport zone and a gateway for the transportation of goods. And, while it’s topography is more of a jungle paradise, technology, infrastructure, and industry have changed the landscape and the standard of living in the community. Real estate and BPO companies doing business in the Philippines are rising fast in the area and investors are now looking at Subic as a top BPO destination in the country.

As the global Business Process Outsourcing “BPO” market continues to expand, outsourcing destinations like Latin America and the Philippines are seeing more foreign investors and increasing annual revenue.  These areas expect a 30-40% profit upswing from BPO for the first quarter of 2010.

Latin American BPO is poised for growth, with large multinationals like Citigroup, Pfizer, and Ford setting up operations in the area. Other international offshore players in the area include TCS, Convergys and IBM. Latin American countries offer a number of fragmented domestic IT and BPO services, which enable bigger companies to capitalize on local acquisitions. Proximity to the United States and similar time zones may have led to 32% growth in voice transcription services in 2009 for the region.  Whatever the reason, the tides are shifting toward Latin American shores and away from India, the traditional leader in the voice transcription field.

Fueled by advancements in computer technology, the Online Gaming industry has become one of the biggest moneymakers in the Philippines today. As responsible online gaming becomes an accepted form of recreation or diversion for a number of Filipinos, the annual profits of online casinos, bingo and sports-betting companies keep increasing at a tremendous rate. PhilWeb, one of the largest online gaming companies in the Philippines today, posted a profit increase of 52% in the first quarter of 2010 alone. Company revenues also rose by 42%, totaling to about Php 239 million. The number is still expected to double, even as the year progresses.