Who, in 2016, will run for the workers, farmers, the everyman?

With the two-stop-shop nature of the Philippine economy (OFWs and BPOs), no heroic effort is required of a Philippine President to fulfill the elementary mandate of ensuring decent growth. The BPOs and OFWs grow on their own momentum. The Philippines is also uniquely positioned to be the prime supplier of global manpower and the host to the voice segment of the BPOs. Not much push in terms of policy tweaking or ramping up of investment is required.

In the case of the BPOs, the outsourcing companies have no option but to relocate here. The driving force is simply the profit motive. For every seat at a Philippine-based call center, the BPO spends the maximum of $1,000 a month per seat: wages, office rentals, auxiliary operating costs etc. If that BPO charges its client double, or triple of what it spends per seat, that would be incredibly low. It is more like ten times or 15 times of what it spends.