Aegis Malaysia apologizes for anti-Phl ad

MANILA, Philippines - Officials of business process outsourcing (BPO) company Aegis Malaysia conveyed yesterday their apology for uploading a video advertisement citing reasons why Malaysia is better than the Philippines for global investors.

The Philippine embassy in Kuala Lumpur said Philippine Ambassador to Malaysia J. Eduardo Malaya received Aegis BPO Sdn Bhd officials, who personally reiterated their company’s apologies for the uploading of a video that placed the Philippines in an unfavorable light.

“Aegis senior vice president-Corporate Divya Dutta and associate vice president for Human Resource P. Ganesan said that they did not authorize the uploading of the video, which was created by a local agency,” the embassy said.

The embassy sought on Monday an explanation from Aegis Malaysia regarding the advertisement.

Company officials said during the meeting that Aegis, a global company headquartered in India, values its relationship with the Philippines and is indebted to the Philippine government for Aegis’ growth over the years.

Aegis issued a statement of apology on their Facebook page and to Philippine media hours after the embassy sent them a letter asking for an explanation on the release of the video.

In their statement, Aegis said: “We regret the upload of the recent video, which was developed locally by an agency and uploaded in error and the contents were not approved by Aegis Corporate.

“Aegis has had a great experience in the Philippines and this has been one of the keys to our success.”