Philippine Independence Day

Today June 12, 2009 is celebrated as the 111th year of Philippine Independence. That's more than a century ago and is it still relevant for us present day Filipinos?

For BPO night shift workers like me, probably it's just another day in the calendar when we can work and be paid double. But is it an irony that most of the BPO workers are employees of foreign BPO companies or call centers and we declare that we indeed are independent?

As foreign BPO investments pour in the Philippines because of the Filipino's innate talent, are we Filipinos have any plans of building our own call center or BPO industry that can rival the best and be a global player? Does our present government see this as an opportunity to 'nationalize' the BPO industry and invest and to have Filipinos run a BPO company and employ their own kababayan?

I work for a foreign BPO company but I am a Filipino. I am proud to be a Filipino and will always contribute and work for true independence. I will always dream of economic and political self-determination and the Filipino BPO worker to earn a decent living without forcing themselves to speak and to sound like a foreigner.