Category Archives: Business

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PHILIPPINES OVERTAKES INDIA AS CALL CENTER CAPITAL OF THE WORLD, THANKS TO NURSES

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imageManila, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – If you try to call customer service to inquire about your credit card or online product orders, chances are you will be speaking to someone from India or the Philippines, the top countries where U.S.-based companies have outsourced their phone services via call centers.

Until recently, India was considered the call center capital of the world. Not anymore. With an estimated 400,000 Filipinos working in call centers, the Philippines has displaced India from the top spot, thanks to Filipino nurses. Say what?

Nursing has become one of top courses and professions in the Philippines, with local universities graduating anywhere from 80,000 to 100,000 every year.

With the very limited number of local hospitals and more stringent requirements for nursing graduates seeking employment in the U.S., it is now estimated that close to half a million licensed Filipino nurses are unemployed or underemployed.

But no worries. Filipino nurses are now being hired by the growing number of call centers in the country, and this has attracted many foreign companies to outsource their services to the Philippines. The reason? Customers who are connected to the Philippine call centers get an extra perk: free medical advice.  Calling the centers is like calling Kaiser Permanente or Blue Cross Blue Shield and speaking to an advice nurse.

After answering customer queries about their credit card or online orders, Filipino call center representatives will ask, “and how are you doing today, healthwise?” The caller can then proceed to ask health-related questions.

So the next time you are connected to a call center in the Philippines, don’t forget to ask about the side effects of your medication or what over-the-counter drug you should be taking for your allergies.

 

 

Business, Film and TV, Human Interest, International, Law Enforcement, Politics, Religion, The Media, Travel

IS POPE FRANCIS SET TO EXCOMMUNICATE THOSE INDICTED IN THE PHILIPPINES’ PORK BARREL SCAM?

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Rome, Italy (The Adobo Chronicles) – Pope Francis had harsh words for the Italian Mafia on Saturday, describing one crime syndicate as “the adoration of evil” and saying all mafiosi “are excommunicated” from the church. His condemnation was the strongest attack on the mob since Pope John Paul criticized the Sicilian Mafia in 1993.

Pope Francis made the remarks after visiting a stronghold of the ‘Ndrangheta, one of Italy’s most dangerous crime groups. There he comforted the jailed father of a 3-year-old boy killed in a mob ambush and condemned mob violence against children.

Vatican insiders have also hinted that the Pope is set to excommunicate notorious Filipino Catholics, notably those who were recently indicted for plunder, graft and corruption and other charges in connection with the 10 Billion Peso pork barrel scam in the Philippines.  Among those indicted were Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Bong Revilla, Jr. and Jinggoy Estrada, along with alleged scam mastermind businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles.  As of this writing, Napoles, Revilla and Estrada have been arrested and jailed.

Napoles and the three senators are known to be devout Catholics.

Prior to being arrested and jailed, Napoles used to have the statue of the ‘miraculous’ Black Nazarene transferred from Manila’s Quiapo Catholic Church to her private residence on many occasions.

bong
Revilla

Just moments before he surrendered, Revilla wore a t-shirt that said “The Lord is on my side; I willl not fear; what can man do unto me?” Before his indictment, he and his family went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

Enrile was Justice Secretary and then Defense Minister under the regime of Ferdinand E. Marcos.  Aligning himself with the late Jaime Cardinal Sin, Enrile became on of the leaders of the 1986 People Power Revolution that drove Marcos into exile.

Estrada, on the other hand, resisted calls by a member of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) that he apologize for betraying the people’s trust.

It wasn’t clear whether the impending excommunication would be based on the  Second Commandment (‘Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord they God in vain’); the Sixth Commandment (‘Thou shalt not steal’)  or the Tenth Commandment (‘Thou shalt not covet they neighbor’s goods).

Perhaps, all three? And, maybe a fourth for Enrile, a known womanizer — the Ninth Commandment (‘Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife’).

 

 

 

 

 

Business, Economy, Human Interest, International, Law Enforcement, Politics

COIN POSSESSION CAN LEAD TO EIGHT YEARS IN PRISON IN THE PHILIPPINES

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imageQuezon City, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – The government may never recover the Ten Billion pesos that disappeared into phony projects and pockets of politicians in the pork barrel scam in the Philippines. This, despite recent indictments that have led to the arrest of top senators, businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles and others implicated in the case.

So now, the government is focusing its energy into recovering up to 24 Billion pesos from piggy banks, drawers and closets of ordinary citizens. House Bill 4411 which passed on third reading makes it illegal to be in possession of excess coins. Coin possession will lead to eight years in prison and/or a fine of up to 300 Thousand pesos.

The proposed bill has encouraged politicians and citizens involved or intending to involve in the much more serious crimes of plunder, graft and corruption.  The reason? The penalty for these greater crimes range from hospital arrest to detention in bungalow-type jails, and eventually, pardon.

A true testament to the Department of Tourism’s promotional meme of “It’s More Fun in the Philippines!”