Letters from the call center workers (2)

Here’s the other letter from my aunt’s blog that I said I’d share with you (albeit a couple days late - sorry).

–

Dear Ms. Susan,

I read your article on Our Times of the Panorama dated May 18, 2008 and felt the need to share my experience with the call center industry. I hope this would interest you. I also hope this may enlighten the minds of those people of my age as to what they might possibly encounter when they join the call center industry.

I am now 52 years old turning 53 in July. I have a husband 14 years my senior and has 3 children ages 24, 18 and 16. My eldest, a girl, works with a call center company at the HR Department. She used to be call agent after graduating from college. My second child is a boy now in 3rd year college and my youngest, also a boy, will be 4th year high this school year. I am a college graduate, my last employment was with a prestigious bank as a secretary to a Senior Officer. I resigned in 1983.

Sometime in 2004, I decided I should take advantage of the “equal opportunities” the call center industry has been offering. I went to a Job Fair at the Malacanang grounds. I was called up and interviewed at home by one of the companies I submitted my resume to. I was scheduled for a test the following day in Makati and luckily I passed. I chose the Alabang site because it is near my place in Las Pinas.

I was hired on November 16, 2004 and signed a contract to receive P12,500 basic pay and P1,500 food and transportation allowance.

Having no idea what to expect in the industry and in dire need of money to help out financially, I started training. My co-trainees were the ages of my children except for one who was then 54 years old. I said to myself it’s alright, I am a good person, anyway. But on day one, I heard some guys talk out loud in the vernacular “why are those here (pointing at me and the other old trainee), aren’t they suppose to stay at home and take care of their grandchildren?” I said to myself I shouldn’t be so sensitive. Different personalities, I assured myself.

At the training, we were always asked to form into teams of 5 members. There, we will make a name for our team, draw and color the team name and list some things the trainor ask for. Kid’s stuff. We were provided with huge paper, crayolas, pen markers, and not enough space to work. EVERYONE SHOULD WORK. These young guys and girls take their positions, some work on the floor, others on the table. It was OK with me. I work on the floor, too. There were times that I think it was even fun. We had different kinds of games. But one game that made me make a second thought about working for this industry was the “spell the word with your ass”. I felt so humiliated for myself.

Not that these kids are really disrespectful, not all of them, though, but they just don’t have patience with older co-trainees. I had friends there, but the others were just spoiled brats who show disrespect. They laugh at you at times, and blame you to the face when you make mistakes. Everything we did was a teamwork. In between these games, we did the Trainings.

Some trainers, although I couldn’t blame them, are impatient. They are used to the pace of these young people. Having no computer classes in my time, I self studied at home with my kids as my coaches and trainers. I am not as efficient as them but I do well. And the active brains of these young kids are maybe a mile away from mine.

I passed the two trainings I undergone, the Communications and Culture Training and the Products and Services Training and was ready for the Transition period in Alabang where we have to take actual calls from customers in the US. But almost every morning when I ride the bus to go home, my tears fall. I silently cry in the bus. I felt so violated by some of my young co-trainees and my trainer who sometimes smashes my computer monitor just to show me where the answers to the drills were. And being embarrassed in front of the entire group of trainees is not new to me. I said to myself if not only for the need to work to earn money, I wouldn’t be feeling this way. I am sure my kids would not be doing such disrespect to elders. I never expected there were kids who were like this. I was never violated like this in my entire life. Despite, I was thankful I overcame the difficulties and passed the training.

At the transition period, there were other trainers. Even worst trainers. They shout at almost all of us. They command, they do not train! They always say they wouldn’t be getting as much as they are getting now if they did not experience the same before, so it’s our time to get the same dose of it. They even call the Transition period “hell week”.

Much as I would like to stay and go through, my blood pressure rose to 200 I could already feel my ears pulsating on my headset. They were rattling us, they were embarrassing us, they were practically shouting at us. One of my co-trainees who never smoke went out that night and smoked for the first time because he was put on a stand and was embarrassed and pressured all the way. Trainers always say they are getting us used to the irate customers and we have to be ready.

I did not finish the Transition Period. I asked my husband to fetch me from the company at 2:30am. I didn’t even want to look back at the building. I was shaking and crying on the way home. I told one of the trainers I had my blood pressure checked and it was over 200 so I had to go home.

I filed my resignation thru FAX on January 4. I was just one step away from taking calls on my own on the floor, in my booth, but PRESSURE forced me to resign.

I purposely did not include the name of the company where I trained. If you would want the name, I could be reached thru email and my cel no. More power to you and thank you.

ALIAS - MRS. Q

Letters from the call center workers (1)

Recently my aunt wrote an article in the Philippine Panorama calling attention to the lives of Filipinos working at the call centers there. The call center industry is pretty big in the Philippines. I’m sure some of you have called customer support of some company and get an English-speaking Filipino on the other line.

In response to her article, some call center agents have written letters to her describing what they go through on a daily basis. Here’s one of them. I’ll show you another one tomorrow.

“…I wrote to tell you that I nearly cried when I read what you wrote last Sunday about the workers. I am a 28 years old call center quality analyst. Just like what you said I earn my keep daily. No work no pay. I would like to inform most of the people out there who are not aware of our situation. It is often assumed that we are earning very big and that’s it. But give me the chance to tell you our side of the story. We (from the call center industry) might be earning a little bigger than the usual. But since we work at night or U.S. office hours, we have to pay extra for our fare it’s either we take the cab or ride tricycles that charge extra fare at wee hours, or leave earlier so we can still catch the last trip of the MRT. Since we work at night our health is also at risk, we have to take extra vitamins or other health products to ensure our source of income.”

“We follow very strict rules which include our attendance and tardiness. Say we earn at least R500 to R800 a day less tax of not less than P2,000 every 10 to 15 days of pay minus our daily expenses and maintenance I assume we have a clean take home pay of at least R300. Not much compared to those who are from the different industry with lesser tax to pay.”

“Every time we celebrate a Philippine holiday we still have work we just get additional (not always double pay) pay. We are greatly affected every time the President would move the holiday to a Monday, because our shift starts at 9pm Monday. We are paid based on real time/Manila time so we get additional pay for only 3 hours instead of 8 hours. Say the Araw ng Kagitingan holiday was supposed to be celebrated Wednesday, the President moved it to Monday and we lost 5 hours of extra pay. Not only that, we can’t choose not to go to work because that could mean our job.”

“Since we work at night, the quality of our family time is also affected. Family time can never be paid by any amount. Unless you are born to a well-off family that can afford the luxuries in life, you just choose to work in the call center industry and make up with what ever you still can that is lost. We endure the hardship because we need the job, the food on the table, the medicine, shelter and education. For us, recreation is just a privilege and not a right anymore. We chose to stay here because we cannot leave our families behind or our skills and educational attainment are not enough. Despite these factors, we pay our taxes diligently though we cannot see the government’s effort to help us….”

All you need to know about dinengdeng (tagalog video)

Wow, I haven’t had this to eat for a very long time (since my family isn’t from the Ilocos region), but this makes want to try it again.

From the description that user bualaw08 posted on Youtube:

Dinengdeng Festival

Pinakbet, Bagnet, Papaitan are just some of the Ilocanos’ specialties. But there is one more dish that has become a staple in every Ilocano’s table: Dinengdeng. The dish is similar to Pinakbet but what gives it its unique flavor is fish paste or bagoong.

In Agoo, La Union, Dinengdeng is such a favorite dish that they celebrate an annual feast dedicated to it: the Dinengdeng Festival!

The Dinengdeng Festival also serves as a thanksgiving celebration for Agoo’s fishermen and farmers. The highlight of the festival is the presentation of 100 families of their Dinengdeng specialties, most of which are recipes handed down from previous generations.

This year, residents of Agoo will attempt a feat for the Guinness Book of World Records by presenting more than a hundred variations of their beloved Dinengdeng.

The rice problem (video)

From a New Zealand news program….

A briefing for the travelers

So after going to P-Grad and a couple of graduation parties, I gather that there are quite a few TP actives/alums that are heading to the Philippines as early as tomorrow.

So this post is directed to you guys. You probably know a lot of this already, but perhaps you will find some of it useful.

Weather

If you’re leaving Tuesday night, you’ll probably get there on Thursday morning Manila time if you’re going straight. Based on this site, expect a high of 32 and a low of 24 with the usual scattered thunderstorms. (Yes, you’re gonna want to brush up on the metric system.) It’s going to be like that for a while. One of my co-workers just got back from the Philippines and she was complaining to me all day about how hot and humid it was over there, so prepare yourself.

Looking at this radar it looks like a storm recently passed by, but I don’t see any typhoons headed your way, so I think you’ll be ok on that front. If, God forbid, one hits during your stay, I hope you’re not in a low-lying area if it happens….

Money!

According to this site the Peso-Dollar rate is 42.8 PHP = 1.0 USD. A little higher than what I recall it being a couple of months ago, but far below the 50-55 range that it used to be.

Food and gas is getting more expensive in the Philippines, like everywhere else.

Travel warnings?!

The US Department of State still has this travel warning in effect for the Philippines, specifically southern Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago. Watch yourself out there no matter where you are.

Current events?

Things are relatively calm right now. As you’ll see, every news program in the Philippines usually leads with a political story about some alleged act of corruption by the government, unless something big like a storm, a Pacquiao fight, etc. happens. But things are stable there, for now. Come 2010, that won’t be the case, but anyways….

Transportation

Hahaha….

They just raised the fares again for jeepneys and buses (they had to due to gas). If you haven’t ridden on a jeepney or tricycle, you really should. There’s nothing like riding shotgun on a tricycle through the provinical roads.

In Manila, well good luck. Traffic sucked when I was over there 4 years ago, and I can’t see it improving.

Recommendations?

Around Manila, there’s always the malls. Robinsons, Power Plant, Glorietta, Greenhills, Greenbelt, Megamall, Mall of Asia…they’re pretty much self-explanatory.

There’s also the Global City near Fort Bonifacio….4 years ago there were a couple of high-rises and a whole lot of nothing on that space….it must be totally different now.

Go to Bulacan if you have the chance. I’m a bit biased since that’s my home province, but it’s pretty much right next to Manila and it’s home to towns/cities of different characters. A couple of them include….

• Meycauayan - Home of the Sta. Cruz Family (my mom’s side). Tons of jewelry can be found here. I wonder if the river’s still black.
• Bocaue - The Fireworks Capital of the Philippines. You should see this place around New Year’s.
• San Miguel - In my opinion the best Pastillas de Leche comes from this town.
• Malolos - the capital of the 1st Philippine Republic. If you’re going here, you should go to Barasoain Church (where it all began).
• Hagonoy - Last, but not least. Home of the Ople Family (my dad’s side). To me it’s an ideal place. Not too far away from the craziness that is Manila, but far enough. Lots and lots of fish around here.

Other than that…Tagaytay’s pretty nice when I was last there. Go see the Taal Volcano while you’re at it. Baguio’s nice too if you’re OK with a long ride. Then, of course, Boracay. You’re all pretty much going there so there’s no need to describe it here.

In conclusion, have fun, and stay safe. If you feel the need to blog about your experience, let me know. - R

From playing in front of 50,000 to getting booed off the country

A recent conversation I had with my father (where, among other things, he recalled how he went to two packed Commodores gigs at Araneta Coliseum back in the 60s) led me to do a bit of research about an event I really didn’t know much about until now.

The event I speak of is the Beatles in 1966 playing 2 large concerts in Manila and then getting booed and harassed out of the Philippines.

So how can such a thing happen?

According to this site, on 7/4/66 the Beatles played two concerts at Rizal Memorial Football Coliseum with a combined attendance of 80,000. (They played while Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos were in power; however, this was before martial law was declared in 1972.) Before these 2 concerts…

“a lunch was set at Malacañang Palace at 11 a.m. with 300 children waiting to see The Beatles. An hour before the party, a delegation came to the Manila Hotel to collect The Beatles. Brian Epstein, The Beatles’ manager, declined the invitation on the grounds that no earlier arrangement had been made and The Beatles were still in bed.

The day’s scheduled concerts, however, later proceeded successfully. In between concerts, local televisions reported the alleged “snub” showing footages of children, some crying, disappointed by The Beatles. Epstein watched in horror and went immediately to the television studio to apologize and set the facts straight. But barely had he started reading his press statement when the transmission blipped.

Newspapers carried the headline, “Beatles Snub President.” The following morning was the scheduled departure of The Beatles to New Delhi. Suddenly, The Beatles and their entourage realized they were practically on their own without any help: Room and transportation services were withdrawn. In the airport, the whole Beatles entourage was manhandled as it made its way to the plane.”

The Beatles eventually got to New Delhi, but they did not appreciate how they were pretty much booed off the Philippines. Someone put up on Youtube parts of a Beatles interview where they describe how they were treated and vow never to go there again (a vow which they kept).

One can also see in the above clip a small glimpse of what the Philippines was like in the Marcos years before martial law.

Imagine if Clinton or Obama did something like this here

First came across this from my cousin Kuya Carlo’s blog, “Only in the Philippines!”

Yep, the man below promoting Tide detergent is running for President in 2010. Very clever if you ask me.

This is what happens when you oust a Speaker of the House

…He recounted the times he had stood to defend President Arroyo, and said, “It pains me grievously to hurt the President and to hurt the First Family because I have invested so much more than any of you in this chamber to help the President become Vice President, become President….”

Reporters later asked De Venecia whether his accusations against the President, members of her family and close associates were a declaration of war. He replied, “Yes.”

Full story here.

Back from the other side of the fence

OK, let’s get this blog rolling again.

I was recently forwarded a joke email containing the following YouTube video. If it made my mom laugh, maybe it’ll make you laugh too.

After doing a little research, I learned that this clip comes from the 1994 Filipino sitcom/movie Ober Da Bakod (Over the Fence). According to what someone wrote on its Wikipedia page:

The poor brothers Mokong and Bubuli (sons of Lucring Dayukdok) have emotions for the rich sisters Honey Grace and Barbie Doll (daughters of Don Robert Dinero), Mokong for Honey Grace and Bubuli for Barbie Doll. Don Robert doesn’t want the brothers for his daughters, because they are poor. In order to be free to court Honey Grace and Barbie Doll, Mokong and Bubuli climb over the fence.

Don Robert always makes various plans to prevent Mokong and Bubuli to get closer to his daughters. But he always fails due to the intervention of his mortal enemy and former girlfriend, Aling Lucring who happens to Mokong and Bubuli’s overprotective mother. As a result, total mayhem ensues between the two families living a class apart.

A running gag of the series is at the end of every episode, two policemen, Officer Tedera and Officer Ginto, arrest and charge Don Robert of a crime based on whatever scheme he had concocted whether directly or indirectly involved he was. As Don Robert tries to explain his way out of this arrest, the police officers always tell him, “Sa presinto ka na lang magpaliwanag.” (”Explain everything at the precinct.”) Those words have now become a common Filipino catchphrase.

Get the round fruits, put money in your pockets, turn all the lights on, and open all the windows…!

…it’s 2008!

Happy New Year to one and all!