Security concerns worry BPO investors

The head of the IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) hopes for the speedy resolution of security incidents in the country, concerned that these recent events were “not very healthy” to the industry.

Rey Untal, IBPAP president and CEO, said that recent security incidents such as the ongoing clash in Marawi City and the arson and attempted robbery in Resorts World Manila have become a constant part of their conversation with investors.

“These security incidents, while unfortunate, are not very healthy. I hope we can get over that quickly so we can go back to doing business and that noise would be gone,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.

This develops as the industry is currently seeing a slower inflow of new investments in the first quarter of the year on top of government plans to remove some tax perks that are also being enjoyed by the IT-BPM industry.

In the first three months of the year, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said that total IT-BPM pledges in seven investment-promotion agencies, including the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza), fell 34 percent to P4.18 billion in the first quarter from P6.34 billion in the same period last year.

He admitted that the decline in new investments in the first quarter were attributed to “a certain extent not to what’s happening now but to what’s happening before,” citing President Duterte’s anti-western rhetoric last year as example.

“Over the past quarter or so, when I interact with people coming here, there is better confidence. The tide is changing, but then the security incidents happened,” he said.

But while security may have become a question, he said that it remains business as usual for member organizations currently located in southern Philippines.

“In the meantime, we are also partnering with local government units there especially in locations in Mindanao where we have member organizations working. The good news is until now, for them, it’s business as usual,” he said.