But Oscar Sanez is not even a BPO industry pioneer, getting involved in the industry only in 2007. And he has all the right reasons to spout these lies, seeing as how he is now associated with San Miguel Corporation, owned by Danding Cojuangco, who supports Grace Poe.
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And the title “Father of the Call Center Industry” was not even something that he or his party started, according to BPO executive Rainiero “Bong” Borja. He was the President of Aegis People Support Philippines for 12 years and was also the one who helped move the call center company to the Philippines during its search for a low-cost location in 2000. Borja said that the title was just the way Roxas was introduced when he attended BPO forums before, mainly due to his contribution to the now-thriving BPO industry.
During the planned move to the Philippines, the BPO industry back in 2000 was virtually nonexistent. But Borja found support in the person of Mar Roxas, who was then the Secretary of Trade and Industry.
In a Forbes article detailing how the Philippines managed to snatch the outsourcing jobs from India back in the early 2000s and with an interview with Borja,
“He found a champion in Manuel Roxas, then Philippine secretary of trade and industry, who helped create tax incentives for BPOs. Roxas, now a senator, even went to client meetings for PeopleSupport and other BPOs in the country.”
Roxas was the real pioneer of the country’s BPO industry as he lobbied to revise RA 7916.
“In fact, one of the key contributions Mar Roxas made to the BPO industry was lobbying in congress to revise Republic Act 7916, so that buildings or floors in buildings could register as an ecozone. That meant that the budding BPO industries were exempt from paying national and local taxes, and only had to contribute 5% of their gross income as tax — a major enabler during that time.”
It should be noted that the success of the BPO industry did not come overnight. Credits should be given to the right people, aside from Roxas, who saw the potential in the industry, including Rainiero Borja himself, former President Fidel V. Ramos, Frank Holz, Myrna Padilla, Andrew Tan, Jim Franke and Derek Holley, Fil-Cartoons, Bill Gates, and the millions of Filipino BPO employees with their excellent English-speaking skills, patience in handling customers, and impressive work ethic, with more details about their contributions here.
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