Courting Estrada spites the courts

Efforts of President Gloria Arroyo to stay in power and of her foes to topple her have plunged to new depths. It used to be a contest of numbers in the streets and then of numbers in Congress. Now it’s a race for the favor of jailed Joseph Estrada – to the detriment of law.

Senate President Franklin Drilon somehow started it early this month by attending Mass for Estrada’s swift recovery from eye surgery. For weeks before that, Estrada aides had been egging ex-presidents Cory Aquino and Fidel Ramos to unite with him in assailing Arroyo for poll rigging. Unity, in their minds, would bolster moves to eject her, previously unsuccessful due to Opposition infighting. Score time came when Aquino agreed to the Mass and brought Drilon along, even though Ramos was absent. Photos of them together sent home the message that Arroyo was growing increasingly isolated. But the insinuation was also that high political leaders were eager to forget Estrada’s P4-billion plunder case, if only to enlist his remaining charisma with the poor to their cause of ouster.

Mike Defensor, Arroyo’s new chief of staff, was not to be outdone. In touch with Estrada all these years of no-bail trial, he suddenly announced last week having convinced three powerful religious figures to take Estrada under recognizance during a month-long furlough from jail to prepare for his defense testimony. Estrada’s lawyers are petitioning the Sandiganbayan to grant him the leave, unprecedented in legal history. Obviously Defensor had collaborated with them to get Cardinal Ricardo Vidal, Iglesia ni Cristo’s Eraño Manalo, and El Shaddai’s Mike Velarde to guarantee that Estrada was not a flight risk. Defensor tried to conceal political motives: "There’s no personal or vested interest in this; it’s for the national interest." Still his signal to the Opposition was clear: you’re not gonna get Erap, we are. And the insinuation was worse than Aquino’s and Drilon’s. Malacañang would do anything to court Estrada out of joining anti-Arroyo plots. Defensor could not have negotiated with the religious trio without his boss’ assent.

And now Drilon is miffed. He is admonishing Defensor to shut up about Estrada’s jail leave because talking is tantamount to pressuring the anti-graft court. But it’s too late. He plunked an ante; Defensor upped it. From different directions they have impressed on the public that laws – on non-bailable plunder and against legislative or executive interference in the judiciary – mean nothing when partisan intentions come into play.

Estrada must be snickering at both camps. He is playing his own game – that of wriggling out of the plunder indictment, or for at least a break from his questionable rest house arrest to stay for a month in his city mansion. His son Sen. Jinggoy Estrada has made it plain: they welcome Malacañang support for temporary release, but no deals would be made with the Administration.

Expect Drilon and Defensor to continue their courtship of Estrada. The Senate chief in fact has been talking like he’s the detainee’s spokesman: "(Estrada) would submit his request to the Sandiganbayan, and he would leave the Sandiganbayan alone to decide this." Defensor, ever the operator, must meanwhile be plotting a way to pressure the court to release Estrada. They came from opposite sides to derail the wheels of justice.

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Call centers prefer the Philippines to India for many reasons. Surveys by Kelly Services of Michigan and ACA Research of Singapore list some: Filipinos, unlike Indians, speak English with a neutral accent. They average only eight days of sick leave a year, compared to Indians’ 15. As employees Filipinos are considered more loyal, averaging 19 months with employers, unlike the Indians’ 11. They are also cheaper to train in only 19 days, while Indians take 24 days.

To be sure, 5,000 new jobs open in call centers each week in Manila. There’s a big problem, though, according to Mitch Locsin of the Business Processing Association of the Philippines. Only three percent, or 150 vacancies, are filled up. At that rate, says Arthur Yap, presidential adviser on job creation, "they need to interview 165,000 applicants to hire 5,000."

Recruitment cost has become prohibitive. It’s sad, Locsin sighs, since call centers offer good entry salaries of P15,000-P18,000 a month. Promotion is as fast as company expansion, so a tyro can rise to middle manager in two years, with pay of P50,000-P80,000 a month.

The low hiring rate is due to applicants’ slow comprehension and poor command of English. Yap says that while most Filipinos understand English, they hardly practice speaking. This will not do with call centers’ American clients who phone in to inquire or complain about products and services.

Locsin and Yap have come up with solutions. Foremost of these is to relocate call centers to regions like Ilocos, Mountain Province, Panay and Cebu-Bohol, where families have a tradition of polishing their children’s English. Another is for Locsin’s group to hold English training classes in state universities and colleges, with the students as a ready pool for hiring. A third, and this is a tip for television stations, is to put up shows that announce vacancies in call centers, with English training at the same time.

They better move fast, lest India or other countries elbow Filipinos out. Already, call center managers are circulating booboos of applicants as "thank you for calling so much" or "thank you so much for calling to you" or the classic "first, can I have your first and last name first".

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