Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 16) — A senator is urging the government to fast-track its improvement of internet connectivity in the country to help create more high-value online jobs in rural areas of the Philippines.
In a press release issued Sunday, Senator Sonny Angara said better internet connectivity in the country’s far-flung regions would help the government improve its Rural Impact Sourcing Program, which aims to target unemployment in rural Philippines through better access to internet-based jobs in disadvantaged communities.
“While the IT-BPM (IT- business process management) industry continues to thrive as one of the country’s top career providers, there seems to be a growing disparity in opportunities provided to people living in our major cities, as opposed to those in far-flung provinces,” Angara said.
“We must bridge this gap and bring opportunities in the countryside where they are needed the most,” he added.
Impact sourcing involves increasing access to digital markets and business process outsourcing (BPO) in far-flung areas of the country.
The Rural Impact Sourcing Program, which was implemented in 2013 and is now under the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), targets unemployment in high-population rural areas with low employment due to lack of investors.
Angara said better internet access in these areas will bolster the program and help provide opportunities to Filipinos within reach of their homes.
“Dapat mayroon din silang oportunidad sa kani-kanilang mga probinsya. Hindi na dapat nila kailangang pumunta pa sa Metro Manila o sa Cebu para makakuha ng online jobs [They should also have opportunities in their own provinces. They shouldn’t have to go to Metro Manila or Cebu to get online jobs]. They should be able to stay where their families are and have meaningful work,” he said.
Several impact sourcing operations have been established in the Philippines.
The Contact Center Association of the Philippines said there are impact sourcing operations Kapatangan in Lanao del Norte, Puerto Princesa in Palawan, Balanga in Bataan, and in San Nicolas in Ilocos Norte.
Angara said the IT-BPM industry, which employed some 1.15 million Filipinos and generated USD22.9 billion (PHP 1.14 trillion) in revenue in 2016, can pave the way towards more inclusive growth in the Philippines.
“The internet does not only connect us with our friends and loved ones. It is also a way to create jobs-to make our economy more inclusive. We should work together towards opening up more internet opportunities for all of our countrymen,” Angara said.
