P70M Watts Call Center Opens At NCCC Mall Today

A 250-work station call center located at the 4th floor of NCCC Mall in Matina opens in Davao City today. This is the largest mall-based call center in the city with a capitalization of P60 to P70 million.

Derek Rice, Facility Director of Western Watts, said they will start its operations with only 250 seats but looks to open another 400 seats for the second phase of the project bringing the total to 650 seats by August next year. Western Watts is considered one of the largest data collection companies in the United States with expertise in market research.

Western Watts is one of the pioneering BPOs in Cebu but the company's operations there experienced some problems leading to a massive layoffs in December last year.

Unlike most call centers in the city which is experiencing a fast turn over of agents due to the work schedule and pressure of selling, Western Watts call center agents are expected to stay on because they only have one shift and that is from 4:30AM to 11:30 AM. No selling for these agents, only cold calling for market research.

Rice said they are eyeing an expansion by next year and when the facilities and the staff are ready then they might add additional shifts for calling UK and US companies.

Seamen's Hospital Opens in Davao City

The first hospital specifically geared towards seafaring clients opened in Davao City along R. Castillo Avenue, Agdao District yesterday. The GIG OCA ROBLES Seamen’s Hospital will cater to the medical and hospitalization requirements of seamen from Davao City and from Mindanao as well as their families.

"Davao and Mindanao seafarers as well as their families can avail of tooth extraction and major operations for from the hospital," councilor Pilar Braga told Datelinedavao. Braga said the hospital came to life through the efforts of Captain Gregorio S. Oca. It is being managed by Dr. Richard John Pecson.

Braga said "the Seamen’s Hospital could serve as an inspiration and as a model for other organizations and even government in mobilizing resources to achieve a noble project."

SC Issues TRO On Questionable MILF-GOP MOA

The signing today of the questionable Memorandum of Agreement between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front was stopped albeit temporarily after the Supreme Court issued a Temporary Restraining Order as petitioned by various Mindanao government officials like Governor Sacdalan of Cotabato.

An en banc session of the SC yesterday ordered the hearing of the oral arguments of the petitioners on August 15. It also ordered the Solicitor General to submit a copy of the MOA to the SC by August 8.

Aside from the inclusion of additional Mindanao areas in the autonomous region, the the MOA would have given the MILF immense power and control over the covered areas' banking, legal system, civil service and even the internal security force. The agreement may have been the government's way of solving the peace crisis in some parts of Mindanao but there are Mindanao officials who believe this is a sell-out.

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said this was a setback in the peace process but Malacanang press secretary Jesus Dureza said they submit to the court's discretion.

PGMA's SONA Bloopers

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's announcement that cell phone companies will lower SMS charges to P0.50 was a blooper after all. Apparently, the telecom firms had no plans of lowering their charges on a regualr basis but this was part fo their promotion which would last for three months.

Either PGMA was plainly stupid enough to think that Filipinos are stupid to take her words hook, line and sinker or she was given false information by her staff. In journalist lingo--nakuryente! Head should roll....

Text Messaging Cost Slides Down To P0.50 Per Text

The only people who were perhaps smiling ear to ear after the State of the Nation Address of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo are habitual texters and that's about millions of Filipinos! PGMA announced that she has requested the telecom firms to lower the texting rate and they have agreed to lower text messaging at P0.50 per text message.

This means a lot of work for the marketing people of telecom firms like Smart and Globe. Smart's best-selling All Text 20 with 90 Smart-to-Smart text and 10 other network text will now be rendered obsolete because at a rate of P.050 per text message, smart texters would rather get the regular load and get longer periods for their load unlike the All Text scheme where it is good only for a day or two at most.

SANA or SONA?

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's SONA should have been dubbed as SANA because it contained all the wish-list of the government under her administration: more budget for the kawawang housewife, more income generating enterprises for the 41-year old padre de pamilua, etc, etc.

In fairness to PGMA, this year's SONA was more in touch with reality such as the worsenign economic crisis and the poverty facing even the unborn Filipino. However, with her honesty came the glaring realization that the Philippines is indeed a country in desperate need of economic reform but VAT should not be one of them.

On the contrary, PGMA even highlighted the Value Added Tax as the enactment that saved the country from further economic crisis. PGMA should say this to the millions of Filipinos who have to pay an extra 12% VAT for their Jollibee meal everyday and for every Filipino who has to pay the additional VAT slapped on by professional like DOCTORS to their patients.

The reality is that while the government has been using VAT allegedly to subsidize the poor, the same VAT is making life HELL for millions of Filipinos. And if PGMA is true to her words, then the VAT is subsidizing ARMM officials who are living in sheer abundance despite the region being the poorest in the country. Check our their homes---sorry ----mansions at Juna Subdivision and you will see that every Muslim in the ARMM should not be living in poverty at all.

Church Dared: Go To Tondo And See Life's Realities

Movers behind the Philippine Catholic church were challenged by non government agencies and reproductive health advocates to visit Tondo and see the realities of life. Then perhaps they will be able to fully understand the need for a viable reproductive act such as the one being debated in Congress today.

While Tondo is more than that, it is said to be a showcase of Philippine poverty and population blast. However, poverty can also be gleamed even in your own neighborhood, just take a look at the low-income and sometimes no-income families of five or more.

The Philippine Church is an important group that politicians will please to high heavens thinking of the clout it has to its Faithful come election time. Although not as strong as the Iglesia ni Kristo, the Catholic Church is still a potent political ally that most politicians, even President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo would not dare cross them.

And while most politicians are running scared with their tails behind their butts, a government official has proven there is still someone in government who will not mince words nor sacrifice her beliefs even at risk of being taken away from her post and that is DSWD Secretary Esperanza Cabral.

Cabral has been very vocal about her stand on reproductive health and she has not backtracked despite Malacanang's dilly dallying on the issue. Cabral said she has been in the forefront of the country's battle against poverty as DSWD chief and she is only saying and standing for what she thinks is best for the people even at the risk of losing her appointment.

And there are more politicians proving their worth and not merely as sniffing dogs---Mayor Sherwin Gatchalian of Valenzuela and Mayor Tomas Osmeña of Cebu has publicly avowed support for the reproductive health bill. Davao City's mayor Rodrigo Duterte is one of the independent-minded politicians in the country today and he even rewards Dabawenyos who would go for vasectomy. Will Duterte align himself with these fearless politicians?