Jeepney barker achieves success as call center agent

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino saw the video of a Negrense polio victim and a former jeepney barker who now works as a call center agent in a leading business process outsourcing company, and was amazed and inspired by his success.

This is what Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) director-general Joel Villanueva told 25-year-old Mark Joseph Escora at the awarding ceremonies of the 1st Tatak TESDA Video Making Contest recently.

The three-minute video featuring the success story of Escora won Best Video-school category. Escora himself did the voice-over in the video.

It was the entry of the Negros Occidental Language and Information Technology Center (NOLITC), which received a trophy and P250,000 for its Training for Work Scholarship Program, and a trophy and a Samsung tablet for Mark.

Negros Occidental Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. said he was elated that the video on Escora won because it is a very inspiring story that shows that if one is given an education and the skills, that person can emerge from poverty and get ahead in life.

The TESDA national competition was held to document and recognize the success stories of tech-voc graduates like Escora.

Villanueva lauded all the winners of the competition and emphasized the contribution of tech-voc graduates in providing a world class workforce.

“I was born poor,” said Escora in the three-minute video, made by Don Arado of NOLITC. “Worse, I am a person with disability.”

Growing up, he experienced a lot of discrimination, bullied by his classmates because he was handicapped.

He grew up in a squatter’s area in Barangay Alijis in Bacolod City. His father is a jeepney driver and he has five siblings. Mark began working when he was 12 to help his family. He worked as a computer shop attendant for two years, then a jeepney barker (one who calls passengers to ride the jeep) for seven years.

“Despite all the challenges I’ve been through, I never stopped dreaming. I needed dedication to be successful in life,” he said.

After graduating from Mansilingan Agro-Industrial High School, he started to look for a job. “But being a high school graduate, I found it real hard to get a decent job,” he lamented.

He mustered enough courage to apply online at Panasiatic Solutions, “but I failed, because I’m just a high school graduate.” The company advised him to enroll in a short course for call center agents at NOLITC. He qualified for a 100-hour finishing course for call center agents under the Training for Work scholarship of TESDA.

NOLITC is a training center operated by the provincial government that provides out-of-school-youth and high school graduates opportunities and training to be able to work in BPO companies.

After completing the course in November 2012, he again applied at Panasiatic Solutions. This time, he got hired.

“It was a tough challenge for me, but I was never discriminated, I was accepted for who I am,” he said. After a year, he was promoted as Escalation Supervisor.

Escora thanked TESDA, the provincial government and NOLITC “for giving me hope, for empowering me to get a stable job to help my family, and build a career in a BPO company.”

Escora shared three things he learned from his experience: “Always expect the unexpected, remain humble despite your achievements, and it is never too late for people who have goals in life.”