The Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines (Ibpap) recently handed out its first- ever Flare Awards to honor individuals and institutions who have contributed to the outstanding growth of the information-technology and business-process management (IT-BPM) industry.
I was one of those honored with an Azure Flare Award for being a luminary of this sunshine industry, in particular, for sponsoring three key pieces of legislation—the Cybercrime Prevention Act (Republic Act [RA] 10175), the Data Privacy Act (RA 10173) and the creation of the Department of Information and Communications Technology, or the DICT law (RA 10844).
These three laws established the legal framework that enabled the industry to develop and grow swiftly.
Prior to the enactment of these laws, the Philippines did not have a clear policy governing the Internet. At the time, the World Wide Web was like the Wild, Wild West—where everything was free of any rules or regulations.
Such lack effectively drove away prospective IT-BPM investors worried about their computer systems getting hacked, or their client’s private data being sold off, or leaked to unscrupulous individuals. To investors, conducting business in such situation was simply too risky.
This is why we pushed for the trio of ICT legislation during the 15th Congress, as chairman of the Senate Committee on Science and Technology and the bicameral Congressional Commission on Science and Technology and Engineering (Comste), with then-Comste Executive Director Dr. Gregory L. Tangonan.
The Data Privacy Act protects the rights of netizens over their personal data. The Cybercrime Prevention Act imposes sanctions against netizens committing crimes online. The DICT law, meanwhile, established a dedicated line agency tasked with ensuring that the necessary hard and soft infrastructure are in place for Filipino citizens to make the most out of opportunities online. All these pieces of legislation—save for the DICT law—were passed and swiftly enacted under my watch.
We owe the IT-BPM industry much. Between 2004 and 2014, its revenues grew twelvefold, far outpacing the global industry’s fivefold growth during the same period. By the end of 2015, the industry generated revenues of $21.5 billion—well on its way to achieving its 2016 target of earning $25 billion.
With its phenomenal growth, the industry has become the country’s second-largest source of foreign exchange, contributing significantly to the country’s macroeconomic stability. Some estimate that by 2017, the IT-BPM industry may overtake overseas Filipino workers remittances as the top source of the country’s dollar revenue.
The industry’s huge benefit, however, comes from the many jobs it has created, especially in the provinces. From a mere handful of companies that employed mostly National Capital Region (NCR)-based night owls during the late-1990s, the industry grew exponentially within a short span of time to become among the country’s top employers today.
Between 2004 and 2014, employment grew 10 times. And as of last year, up to 1.2 million Filipinos were directly employed by the industry, with some 4 million in ancillary industries, such as real estate, retail, construction and even tourism.
Naturally, the NCR and the country’s urban centers, like Cebu City, Iloilo City, Davao City and Bacolod City, were among the first to attract IT-BPM investments. That list has since grown to include San Nicolas in Ilocos Norte; Roxas City in Roxas; Puerto Princesa in Palawan; Balanga City in Bataan; and Cagayan de Oro City in Misamis Oriental.
Even far-flung farming communities, like Kapatagan in Lanao del Norte, have already taken on IT-BPM jobs—with farmers tending their fields in the morning and running their own small IT-BPM companies at night. DICT officials estimate that to date, up to 80 small cities and municipalities outside of Metro Manila now play host to IT-BPM operations.
The IT-BPM industry deserves due recognition for the immense benefits it has brought to the country. Its success is the product of close collaboration among industry, the government and academe. Ensuring that such multistakeholder cooperation continues and deepens in the coming years—in the face of a fast-changing world—would be an appropriate expression of gratitude to the IT-BPM industry.
E-mail: angara.ed@gmail.com.