MANILA, Philippines - Sixty-three new
information-technology (IT) parks are now being developed nationwide designed
to further strengthen the country’s business process outsourcing (BPO)
industry, House Deputy Majority Leader and Pasig City Rep. Roman Romulo said
yesterday.
The lawmaker said 41 of the emerging
IT parks are in the provinces while 22 are in the National Capital Region.
“We strongly favor the advancement of
new IT parks in highly urbanized corners outside Metro Manila. This will spur
on balanced economic growth all over the country,” Romulo said.
Romulo, vice chairman of the House
committee on information and communications technology, is a key backer of the
labor-intensive, IT-enabled BPO industry.
BPO firms are the predominant locators in tax-advantaged IT parks
registered with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority.
He described IT parks and BPO firms as
“powerful drivers of jobs creation, consumption and overall economic growth.”
“It would not be fair to restrict to
Metro Manila the potential growth opportunities that come with every new IT
park,” he said
He cited the mandate of the 1987
Constitution for all regions of the country to be given optimum opportunity to
develop; for a more equitable distribution of opportunities, income and wealth;
and for the full and efficient use of the nation’s human resources.
The new IT parks in the provinces
would provide the extra infrastructure and connectivity needed to support the
rapid expansion of the BPO industry in the years ahead, he said.
“In terms of human resources, we have
several cities outside Metro Manila that produce thousands of college-educated,
fluent English-speaking professionals every year,” he said.
Romulo is one of the authors of the
Data Privacy Act, which is anticipated to further encourage global corporations
to either establish in-house back offices in Manila, or relegate their
non-core, business support activities to independent BPO firms operating here.
Signed into law by President Aquino on
Aug. 15, Republic Act 10173 commands all entities, including BPO firms, to
protect the confidentiality of personal information collected from clients, in
compliance with rigorous international privacy standards.
The booming IT-enabled services
industry encompasses contact center services; back offices; medical, legal and
other data transcription; animation; software development; engineering design;
and digital content, Romulo said.
The industry is projected to produce
$27 billion in revenues and directly engage some 1.3 million Filipino workers
by 2016.
This year, the Business Processing
Association of the Philippines sees the industry generating $13 billion in
revenues on a labor force of 764,000.
Romulo identified the 41 emerging IT
parks outside Metro Manila, including the FLB Corporate Center, GAGFA IT
Center, GT Times Square, HMDF-WTCI IT Tower, Innove IT Plaza, Maria Cristina IT
Building, and Quimonda IT Center (Cebu City); GGVPI IT Zone, Hi Point IT Towers
I, II and III, and Taft IT Park (Mandaue City); Georgetown Cybermall IT
Building, Limketkai IT Center, Ororama Megacenter, Robinsons Place, and SMCO IT
Center (Cagayan de Oro City); Bacolod IT Park, Lopue’s San Sebastian IT Center,
andSt. Francis IT Center (Bacolod City); Iloilo Business Park, Plazuela de
Iloilo, and Robinsons Place (Iloilo City); Ecocentrum BPO/IT Park and One Asia
Business Center (Biñan City); Tarlac Provincial IT Parks I and II (Tarlac
City);
New IT parks are also rising in Baguio
City (PCH IT Center); Cabanatuan City (Megacenter IT Building); Dasmariñas City
(Robinsons Place) Dumaguete City (LinkSy IT Park); General Santos City (Mabuhay
IT Park); Lipa City (SM City IT Center); Naga City (Naga Center IT Cyber Park);
San Fernando City (Robinsons Starmills); and Urdaneta City (CB Mall IT Center).
Similar parks are likewise coming out
in the Municipality of Marilao in Bulacan (First Bulacan IT Park); Municipality
of Bacong in Negros Oriental (Federated IT Park I); Municipality of Sibulan,
also in Negros Oriental (Federated IT Park II); Municipality of Rosario in
Cavite (SM City IT Center); and Silang, also in Cavite (South Forbes Cyber
Park).
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