70% of JIB call center grads now employed

The JIB e-Academy has achieved a 70 percent employment batting average for those who graduated from the 100 hours Call Center Finishing Course offered by the e-Academy in Davao and in General Santos City.

JIB e-Academy’s, which is accredited by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, opened in the city last May 2006 and in General Santos City last October 2006.

“The 100 hours Call Center Finishing Course develops the necessary skills, confidence and abilities needed by an individual to work in a call center,” JIB e-Academy President Joji Ilagan Bian said.

Bian said they have produced a total of 485 graduates, 70 percent of whom have been absorbed and now gainfully employed by call centers in Davao City and in Manila. “We have successfully placed our latest graduates in good paying jobs with international call centers based in Manila,” she added.

“The General Santos Branch has produced 70 graduates and 73% of them or 53 graduates passed the first series of interviews done through teleconferencing,” she said.

About 45 percent of those pre-screened passed the final interview and were given job offers in Davao and Manila call centers while the rest were placed in the manpower pool for future accounts.

Bian said their partner call centers in Manila and Davao were very much impressed with the level of communication skills of the JIB e-Academy graduates. “Our Gen San graduates are hard working, committed and possess positive work values, which is one of the more important metrics that the BPO industry is requiring from their workers,” she said.

The employment statistics of the first batch of graduates from the GSC branch is already a good bench mark for a start. With this performance, she added, there is no doubt that Gen San is already prepared to accept investors in the Call Center Sector.

JIB e-Academy is the first in Mindanao to offer seminars and customized programs in English proficiency and training in the contact center industry. It is equipped with the most modern facilities and state of the art technology for effective learning.

Bian said it is also the only school in Mindanao that has for its partner, its own sister company, the Six Eleven Global Services, a 100% Filipino owned international call center operating in Davao City. Through Six Eleven Global Services, graduates are given access to employment provided they pass the standards.(lovely a. carillo)

PAL to start Seoul-Davao-Manila route Dec. 16

Philippine Airline’s decision to service the Korea-Manila route with connecting flights to Davao City may just make the city the top destination for Koreans by next year.

“PAL’s trial route from Seoul, Korea to Manila with connecting flights to Davao will start on December 16 this year using the Airbus 320,” Davao Tourism Association president and Marco Polo Hotel Sales Director Art Boncato said yesterday.

Boncato, who just arrived from a sales trip to Korea and China, was able to join the PAL-Department of Tourism road show participated in by 23 hotel and resorts. Only two Davao tourism establishments were invited including Marco Polo and Pearl Farm.

He said almost 200 tour operators were present during a business meeting where Davao City was introduced as a destination since the city is not yet known to the Korean market.

The Davao segment turned out very good, he said, and DOT secretary Joseph Durano even declared Davao as the next destination for Koreans.

The Korea-Manila-Davao route is expected to generate more excitement with the commencement of Air Macau’s charter flight from Seoul to Davao but flying in to Macau first on January 3, 2007.(lovely a. carillo)

Davao’s bid for 2007 ad congress foiled

Davao’s dream to host the well-attended bi-annual Philippine Advertising Congress may just remain an unreachable star unless the city invests in bigger facilities.

“We have been bidding for the Ad Congress for eight years now and we made it to the top this time,” Davao Tourism Association president Art Boncato said during the Club 888 Forum held at the Marco Polo Hotel yesterday.

Boncato said it was a toss up between Subic and Davao but the former won because “we do not have enough facilities to accommodate at least four thousand participants.”

Davao’s tourism sector has been bugging the local government and the private sector to capitalize on bigger facilities for future big conventions like the Ad Congress.

However, no one has yet taken on the challenge to build a bigger venue in the city so the honor of hosting the 2007 Philippine Ad Congress went to Subic.

“We hope an investor can invest in a facility that can fit at least five thousand people at any given time,” he said.

The Philippine Ad Congress is known for gathering a great number of participants. There were at least six thousand participants during the 2001 Ad Congress in Cebu and the number is growing every year.(lovely a. carillo)

Justice for the rich; just-tiis for the poor

The capture of renegade soldier and former senator Gringo Honasan has opened my eyes to the stark reality of the country's justice system. Well, it's not so much the justice system of the country that should be blamed but rather the people running the justice system. And I mean not just the judiciary but the whole three branches of the government---executive and legislative included.

If you were glued on your television sets last week when Gringo was cornered inside the house of his lady-friend, the authorities immediately brought him and his driver to the CIDG headquarters. Honasan was slightly injured so he was immediately brought for medical check up and possibel surgery. Sad to say, this was a luxury for his driver-bodyguard who was almost half awake when interviewed by reporters.

Honasan's driver was apparently suffering from high blood pressure as a result of the commotion during the arrest. However, he was small fry and not rich and famous enough like Honasan so there he was, handcuffed to the grills and looking like he was ready to pass out while the "AMO" he so loyally served for years was humanly treated by the CIDG.

Moral of the story: If you are rich then go ahead commit any crime you want; anyway, you will still be treated humanely even if you get caught. But if you are poor, BEWARE! Justice is not for you!

Davao shellfish traders urged to get accreditation

Traders selling all types of shellfish bound for Davao City should get accreditation first before selling their products here or pay from one to three thousand pesos as penalty.

“The ordinance on mandatory testing of shellfish is now being implemented in the city by the different agencies involved and we are urging market vendors and malls to buy shellfish only from accredited suppliers,” councilor Peter Laviña told Mirror yesterday.

Among the agencies in charge of making sure that all shellfish being sold in the city come from accredited sources and are safe from red tide includes the City Agriculturist Office, the City Veterinarian (because they have an aquaculturist) and the City Health Office.

Laviña said there is only one group of supplier that has an accreditation to sell shellfish in the city and that is the Certified Shellfish International or CSI owned by Alex P. Beronio. Another group is applying for accreditation, he added.

“All shellfish bound for Davao City no matter where it is coming from should undergo laboratory testing to make sure these are safe for human consumption,” he said.

He said the agencies involved should be more proactive in making sure that the various stores selling shellfish in the city bought their supplies from the accredited supplier only.

While the ordinance is considered strong, he said, he admitted that there is as yet no mechanism to make sure that all the entry and exit points in the city are monitored for shellfish supplies that are coming in.

“This is the job of the agencies involved so they should be more proactive in implementing the ordinance and making sure that only shellfish that have undergone laboratory testing are sold in the city,” he said.

Laviña said shellfish traders who are caught selling shellfish sourced from non-accredited suppliers can be penalized by paying a fine of from one to three thousand pesos. This is not to mention the possible criminal case that would be filed against them by the possible victims, he added.

He also urged consumers to be more vigilant and to ask the stores where the shellfish they are selling came from. The consumers can even ask the sellers to show them the purchase receipt to make sure the shellfish came from the accredited source.

Global BPO firm eyes Davao as its new location

A New York-headquartered Business Process Outsourcing firm is eyeing Davao City as its third and newest location in the Philippines. The other two offices are located in Manila and in Clark, Pampanga.

“The company is looking at the possibility of establishing an office here in Davao and they have met with us already to inquire about the investments opportunities here in the city,” DTI XI National Economic Research and Business Assistance Center director Teolulo Pasawa told Mirror. Another prospect for its new location is Iloilo City.

Sutherland Global Services provides contact center and back-office outsourcing to its clients worldwide. It has a total of 12,500 employees distributed in various locations including the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Mexico, Canada, India and the Philippines.

“We have briefed them on the advantages of locating their business here in the city such as the good peace and order condition and the availability of qualified potential workforce,” Pasawa said.

If plans pushes through, he said, Sutherland Global Services is looking at the possibility of establishing an office with an initial 500 seats. More than 70 percent of Sutherland’s clients belong to the Fortune 500 companies in the areas of retail, financial services and information technology.

The city is becoming a favorite location for top BPO companies. GCom is already operating 250 seats with a view to increasing this to 450 seats later on. Another company, Link to Support, will start operating next month. It will start with 200 seats but with a projection of 2000 seats later on.
Big BPO companies are those with capitals of over P150 million. Pasawa said there is still a great demand for BPO workers in the city not just in the areas of call center operations but also in support services.

“Deal or no Deal?” DCCCII not keen on deciding PCCI issue yet

The Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Incorporated is not yet enthusiastic about reconsidering their decision to disaffiliate with the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

“I have not yet met the Board of Trustees of the Davao Chamber after I met with PCCI officials headed by president Donald Dee,” DCCCII president lawyer Bienvenido Cariaga told Mirror yesterday.

Dee, along with other PCCI officials met with Cariaga after Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte brokered a talk between the two parties. Duterte was hoping that they can patch things up after DCCCII declared its disaffiliation from PCCI last month.

PCCI Mindanao officials headed by newly installed Area Vice President Estrellita Juliano-Tamano earlier said they are inviting the DCCCII again to join and recognize the latter as the biggest chamber in Mindanao.

“We will welcome them with open arms; past is past and we have to move on and act for the betterment of Mindanao,” Tamano said. She also said the new PCCI Mindanao officers are ready to work to unite a fragmented Mindanao business group.

Cariaga however said Tamano’s group has not made any attempt to talk to them or contact them before or even after they had the press conference in the city last Wednesday.

“It’s good that they want us to affiliate with them again but I was just wondering why they did not call on us while they were in Davao if they really wanted to reconcile,” he said.

Cariaga said it is still too soon to call a Board Meeting and discuss the reconciliation offer made by PCCI considering what happened between the two chambers.

It seems that no deal has yet been resolved between the two chambers as the DCCCII still claims that PCCI failed to conduct a consultation while the latter still claims they have done everything possible to conduct a consultation.