WHILE the work-from-home arrangement has been temporarily extended for the IT and Business Process Management (IT-BPM) sector, the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) is hoping for a more permanent solution to adopt flexible work arrangement among employees.
Last Friday, the Fiscal Incentives Review Board (FIRB) temporarily extended the work-from-home (WFH) arrangement for the IT-BPM sector. Finance Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno, who is also the FIRB chairperson, said in a statement that it is just fair to grant the extension considering that the resolution related to the WFH arrangement is set to expire on September 12. He said the extension is applicable until they finalize a resolution addressing the issue.
PEZA Promotions and Public Relations Group (PPRG) Manager Aleem Siddiqui Guiapal, in a televised interview on Monday, thanked the Department of Finance (DOF) headed by Diokno as well as Trade Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual for the extension of the WFH arrangement.
Guiapal stressed that PEZA has been pushing for this issue to be addressed since, based on the data they have gathered, the IT-BPM industry contributes around P320 billion monthly to the economy.
“So this is a huge contribution; and besides, we in the PEZA are pushing for the extension of the work-from-home. The news that we have [it] extended up to a certain time is good; but it would be much better if this kind of flexibility for our workers is sustained, since they know their needs better. So, this is a welcoming good news for the leadership of PEZA,” Guiapal said, partly in Filipino.
As for the benefits of the WFH arrangement to the agency, the PEZA official said this is an “encouraging news” for investors. This will be advantageous to PEZA being an investment promotion agency (IPA), as it aims to expand and extend the investment portfolio of those who have registered under the agency. “So, it’s possible for our locators and developers to expand,” said Guiapal.
Meanwhile, Guiapal also noted that there are already talks on the WFH setup being extended until 2023. “The PEZA leadership under DG Tereso Panga has been in talks with PEZA board members, as well as with “DTI being the Chairman, and with the Department of Finance.”
The PEZA official added that the agency’s mantra is “there would be no business without our industry association, without our industry being part of the whole gamut of economic development.”
Guiapal said there have already been “four to five” several meetings with FIRB. He added that this will be given attention to and hopefully, this will heed the call of the IT-BPM industry to extend the WFH setup until March 2023.
For his part, IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) President and CEO Jack Madrid said, “We’re relieved and we are also looking forward to more permanent and much-needed solutions.”
The DTI, in a Viber message to reporters, said, “Secretary Fred is Co-Chair of the FIRB. The Board is in agreement with the issuance and will be meeting soon to draft final resolution.”
PEZA officer-in-charge Panga also hailed the decision of Diokno to extend the WFH arrangement, saying, “The government can be more proactive and responsive to the needs of ecozone locators if it will extend to the WFH privileges under a hybrid work set-up.”
He added, “This solution will not only put PEZA on an equal footing with the [Board of Investments] BOI since both agencies offer the same incentives to their [registered business enterprises] RBEs [whether domestic or export-market oriented], but will also make the Philippines apace with India and other forward-thinking economies that have adopted WFH and hybrid work as the new normal.”
Last week at the budget hearing held at the House of Representatives (HoR), Pangasinan 4th District Representative Christopher De Venecia said, “The Work-From-Home [WFH]Arrangement of the IT-BPM enterprises stimulates our regional and local economies.
This strategy decongests our urbanized cities and allows our IT-BPM workers to be able to concurrently establish their own private enterprises which, in turn, creates local employment.”
“WFH is an innovative strategy for business continuity, and should be supported by our government. We hope that any conflict in our laws and policies on the matter can be cleared out at the soonest possible time,” De Venecia added.