Tagbilaran Airport. PHOTO FROM WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
TAGBILARAN CITY — The old Tagbilaran City Airport will soon become an Information Technology (IT) hub.
Bohol Gov. Aris Aumentado said Sagility, a company that would engage in business process outsourcing (BPO) has taken over the old airport.
“Bohol is so blessed to have enticed major investors, who are fully convinced of our potential as an emerging IT destination and are ready to take advantage of the great opportunities that are waiting for them here,” said Aumentado during the groundbreaking of the Bohol Business Park on May 15.
“This groundbreaking ceremony is something that we can truly be proud of as this is a strong manifestation that we have what it takes to lead in the digital sector, and we have partners such as Sagility and Innercore to help us lead into that path,” he added.
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Aumentado said the call center industry was growing, and it was just a matter of transforming these buildings into usable space.
Aumentado said he yearned for the day when a Boholano does not have to leave home to seek a decent, good-paying job outside the province.
“With this project, I truly hope that we can now offer a better quality of life and a brighter future ahead to every individual and family here in our dear Home, a place called Bohol, the “Head of the Philippine Islands,” he said.
The Bohol Business Park will utilize the 2-kilometer runway which was not used when the Bohol Panglao International Airport in Panglao was completed in 2017.
Ma. Vilma Yorong, head of the Bohol Employment and Placement Office, said the Business Process Outsourcing will employ 3,000 persons.
“More jobs and opportunities for the Boholanos,” she said.
Yorong added that at least 60 percent of the labor force for the construction of the Sagility Bohol branch would be locally sourced.
Wednesday’s groundbreaking was attended by Vice Governor Dionisio Victor Balite, members of the provincial board, Provincial Administrator Aster Caberte, city officials led by Mayor Jane Yap, Innercore Construction and Realty Development Corporation, and officers of Sagility headed by Smita NairJain, chief administrative officer.