Cebu City will honor the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry by declaring a "BPO Day."

South District City Councillor Pancrasio "Francis" Esparis said BPOs has contributed much for Cebu's economy.

Thus, he proposed an ordinance, "Business Processing Outsourcing (BPO) Industry Day Ordinance of 2023", which has been passed on second reading and set for final reading on 24 April.

"The BPO industry has infused billions of pesos into the economy of Cebu City and has employed thousands of Cebuanos and even non-Cebuanos... through the years since its establishment in Cebu, the industry has grown from the strength to strength and has, in fact, prevailed against the economic ill-effects of COVID-19 because the men and women of the industry shouldren on," Esparis said.

The Committee on Laws, Ordinances, and Styling suggested 1 April as the BPO Day for Cebu City. The date symbolizes the return of BPO workers to on-site work after pandemic restrictions eased.

Cebu IT BPM Organization ( CIB.O) vice president Darwin John Moises told the media, "Just for the numbers, there are over 300 companies already in the IT-BPM space, employing around 200,000 people, and if we are able to include in the measure for indirect employment that is about 550,000 people."

"So, while 60 percent remains to be Contact Centers, but the 40% is already composed of knowledge process outsourcing (KPOs) search services and in-house centers. So, the term BPM is more inclusive compared to BPO," he added.

Moises suggested celebrating BPO Day on 28 March, because that was the time when the ECQ was implemented and was also of the heroic efforts of the employees in the industry.

"As we noticed, just when the city was hiding at that time because of the impact of the virus, all the ITBPM buildings were well-lit. So , its people continue to work," Moises revealed.

ITBPM industry in Cebu is almost 20 years now.

Based on data from global research firm Everest Group, the sector posted an annual revenue of $29.5 billion in 2023. That accounts for almost 83 percent of the entire IT-BPM industry revenue of $ 35.5 billion.

The Philippine IT-BPM industry has set an annual revenue target of $59 billion by the year 2028.

Cebu is home to the country's second bustling IT-BPM hub after Metro Manila, generating thousands of jobs and investments in this sector.