With CV’s 6.87B ICT-BPM

365-seat call center

opens at old airport

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol Sept 19 (PIA)—Bohol shares a good chunk in the over-all information communication technology (ICT) and business process management (BPM) investments in Central Visayas, which registered a P6.87 billion investments in the first half of 2024.

Straight from the Regional development Council, now chaired by Bohol Governor Erico Aristotle Aumentado, the ripples of this investments development hit Bohol, with the recent opening of Sagility’s Site–one.

Located at the refurbished abandoned Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) Terminal Building at the old airport is, a 365-seat call center hub that features two training rooms and a full 308 seats for full business process management in health care.

Governor Aumentado himself joined by local government officials along with contracting company Innercore and Sagility officials in the ribbon cutting and office blessing of the two-story old CAAP terminal building at the old Tagbilaran City Airport, now transformed into a techno-hub ready for its full operations in a few weeks.

In a pull-aside interview, the governor, whose beginning months of administration saw 8 percent unemployment rate across Bohol, said he is elated at how things are already falling into place.

Immediately after his election, the governor hit the ground running and set up mechanisms for opening up livelihood opportunities and employment as well as promoting investments, but investors needed to be assured of the stability of local business environments especially with new leaders taking the helm.

In his second year however, with the Holy Name University’s social weather pulse in Bohol Poll, Aumentado garnered a positive 43 percent net satisfaction rating in promoting livelihood opportunities and employment and another positive 41 percent net satisfaction rating in promoting investments.

Immediately then, interested locators and investors started dropping in, just as investment confidence for Central Visayas started to grow, bolstering Bohol’s assertion of its being a viable option for ICT-BPM location.

Where there have been rumors of a considerable pool of locally trained talents for BPM, cheaper labor force, proximity to places of leisure and relaxation, plus positive ratings in investment promotions, Bohol should be a good option, a Sagility official said, on the condition of anonimity.

Call center operations is a highly stressful job and knowing that agents are just a few minutes away from relaxing beaches, packed tours and health and wellness infrastructure, things are just here waiting for the investors to bring in the jobs, she added.

In their initial recruitment, sources from Sagility said that in a day, they were able to get 200 probables, which, to them shows the promise of good and well trained talents to man their call center.

After readying Site One, in record time of 67 days, Innercore president Engr Ramil Ranara said they would initiate the construction of a much bigger building to house 1500 call center seats.

While Site-One is slated to be operational by October 1, or after full test-run of its facilities can be completed, Innercore is now awaiting for the release of the necessary permits from the city government, to start the construction.

And while Innercore is leasing the Site-One building from CAAP, it would be building within the one hectare lot at the Bohol Business Park dedicated for the call center company, its Site-Two.

Moreover, Engr Ranara, who hails from Jagna also added that by April of next year, the construction company would again start to build a three-storey lifestyle mall to support the needs for the workers rendering services at the new park.

After then, Innercore would also build its Site-Three, a seven storey building, again for Sagility, which expects to field some 3,000 more seats at 500 seats per floor, according to the Boholano construction company president. (RAHC/PIA-7/Bohol)