MikeLigalig.com

Maybe you need to take a trip to the towns of Bohol so you can see how impoverished are the people there. And yes, Bohol is larger than other islands in the country but size does not necessarily equate to economic status.

And are the people of Wikipedia liars? Have you checked what they have about Bohol? If you are working abroad, then definitely you will not see the poor state of the people in Bohol. Let me invite you to spend a week in one of the hinterland barangays of Hanopol. After that, then you tell me Bohol is rich.

Go to Wikipedia. Then on the search pane, type "bohol". You will see that we are now rated as the poorest province in Central Visayas. Poorer than Siquijor. And that's because we have been stuck to the middle ages when it comes to income generation. Agriculture to the max. We are now part of a global economy but because we chose to remain backward, this is what we reap. And it's just going to get worse if we keep to our old ways.

Exactly. The Philippines has just overtaken India and is now the No.1 BPO destination in the world. Which calls to mind the saying: "Strike while the iron is hot!". Since the country is now the number 1 BPO provider, Bohol should immediately cash in on this positive development. If we are moving too slow, we will only be BPO ready when China becomes the number 1 BPO destination some 5-6 years from now. In Boholano terms, unya na ta ma andam sa BPO kung dili na uso. How pathetic can that be?

If other provinces have made themselves BPO attractive in a lightning-fast manner, so can Bohol. If only there is political will and conviction from the people running our province. That is the litmus test that will determine whether we can get a chunk of the lucrative BPO pie or not.

This is a great development indeed. However, it takes more than having fiber optics installed in Bohol and a press release about it to attract major callcenters. We are not even fiber optic ready yet. Look at the drilling currently going on in the city? That tells us the fiber optic cables have not been put in place yet.

Is this a case of counting the chickens before the eggs hatch? Moreover, it takes more than just having fiber optics to have BPOs make investments in Bohol. We still don't have the infrastructure to support a callcenter here. We are also not a PEZA accredited I.T. hub which is a major consideration for BPO companies when they decide to expand in a new site.

Maybe we need to complete our legwork first before we start telling the world we are callcenter ready because in reality, we still have a long way to go in terms of BPO readiness and unless someone has the political will and sense of urgency to get our readiness level to 100% in the quickest time possible, we are just going to watch from the horizon as our neighboring provinces reap economic prosperity from having callcenters while we stay stuck in the middle ages. Well, who needs callcenters in Bohol when our graduates can easily work as salesgirls, waiters, and other mediocre jobs with the lowest of pay and the most meager of benefits? Underemployment has never been a problem in Bohol. Never!