Political noise makes BPO investors jittery

Four investors in business process outsourcing (BPO) are jittery about the Philippine market due to the diatribes of President Rodrigo R. Duterte, the Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) said Thursday.

"As far as I've been advised by members, there are some jitters among clients. But, basically, we've told them na these rhetorics that we've been hearing, that all the political noise, don't necessarily translate to policy changes. So that's what's important to them," IBPAP Executive Director for External Affairs Genny Marcial said after a Senate hearing in Pasay City.

"Baka mga four companies ... asked for clarification. There's a local one," she said, but declined to identify the companies.

IBPAP has 326 member companies, accounting for around 90 percent of the 1.2 million direct employees of the (BPO) sector.

The American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (AmCham) has said foreign investors have put on hold their planned investments in the sector after the President's recent pronouncements against the United States.

The President said earlier this month he might "break up" the alliance with the United States and warned the US would lose its Philippine alliance if Washington would not stop treating the Philippines like a "doormat."

Last week, he lashed out at international bodies and dared the United States, the European Union, and the United Nations to withdraw their aid to the Philippines.
However, Marcial made it clear that as far as the IBPAP is concerned no investor has placed on hold any planned investment. "Nobody's pulling out. Nothing's confirmed yet.

"We still get expressions of interest, requests to meet with potential clients," she added.

The Philippine economy grew by 7 percent in the second quarter, the highest since the economy expanded by 6.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013, on the back of the gains in the industry and services sectors.

"No real threats right now, just some jitters, some apprehensions," Marcial said. — VDS, GMA News