17 locals qualify for call center training

Tabuk City, Kalinga - Of 60 local applicants, 17 passed the rigid screening given by the Sutherland Global Services (SGS), a leading multi-national Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) firm, to prospective call center agents of the company during their recruitment activity conducted here November 7 and 8.

SGS recruitment assistant Lady Ferlyn Victoria said that the written exams and two oral interviews were intended to test the communication skills of the applicants.

Victoria informed the media that those who passed will now take a two to three weeks training in the call center site of the SGS in Clark, Pampanga adding that the qualifiers are virtually hired because it is very rare applicants would fail in the training stage.

Victoria said that aside from Clark, the SGS also has call center sites in Makati, Davao and Camarines Sur and is expanding its operations in the country where at present, it already employs 1,500 call center agents.

Loyda Saboy , Public Employment Services Officer-designate of Tabuk City said that if the qualifiers will be hired, their starting basic salary will be PI2,000.00 exclusive of allowances and other benefits.

Saboy said Tabuk facilitated the recruitment activity of the SGS by providing the venue, the snacks, coordination, advertisement and technical assistance and it was the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) which arranged the coming of the SGS to the city.

The locals who will be finally hired will join the over 17,500 professionals working for the company in its 18 delivery centers in India, the United States, Philippines, Canada, and Mexico. **Estanislao Albano , Jr., ZZW, Nov. 18, 2007

Congressman fields anti-robbery teams

Tabuk City; Kalinga - In a bid to finally put a stop to the rampant robberies along the two major entry points to the province, the office of the congressman here has fielded two teems of elders to the Tabuk - Tuguegarao Road and the Tabuk - Roxas Road sections where these robberies have been taking place starting this September.

Ruben Tuazon, peace and order coordinator of the office of the congressman, informed the media that the two teams composed of elders from native tribes living along the two roads are tasked to convince the people in the areas to turn from hold-ups to legitimate livelihood activities and also to point to hold-uppers and stand as witnesses against them.

Tuazon said that Congressman Manuel Agyao has decided to hire and field the eight elders who are divided into two teams because for quite a time now, the hold-ups have been happening despite the presence of the police.

Tuazon said that Agyao is ready to help the people in the hold-up areas to engage in banana and beans production as alternative livelihood activities and will look for direct buyers for their future produce.

The frequent robberies occurring in these roads have the effect of driving away businessmen who want to do business in Tabuk and likewise give people who want no come and visit second thoughts.

Tuazon informed that on September 24 the team working the Tabuk - Tuguegarao Road has already scored an initial success after it was able to convince the culprits in a robbery staged there that day to return their loot to the victim.

Tuazon related that one Napoleon Matute who was then riding a motorcycle with his kid was held-up near the cemetery in Nambaran and was divested of his cellphone and wallet containing Pl,000.00 cash.

Learning of the robbery, a roving member of the team who happened to be near the site of the hold-up called on the other members of the four-man team and tracked down the robbers to their hiding place.

Tuazon said that at first, the culprits denied that they pulled off the stick-up but would later admit and surrender the items taken from Matute to the elders.

Later, the elders and Matute went to the police station in Bulanao to report the incident. However, Matute was afraid to press charges and the elders just executed affidavits naming the hold-uppers and pointing to their whereabouts. **By Estanislao Albano, Jr.

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