racoma.com.phJ. Angelo Racoma on technology, economics, writing, problogging, and getting things done

I’ve been using this nifty feature for quite some time now, and I think people will be interested, especially those who want to save up on telephone costs. Do you know you can sign up for a US and/or UK-based number that will route calls to your computer thru VoIP?

It’s as simple as signing up for an account with FWD, downloading a SIP-enabled VoIP client, and signing up for a DID (direct international dialling) account with IPKall or CallUK.

It’s been several weeks since I published PayPal: One Great Way to Improve the Philippine Economy. Quite a number of people have expressed support and interest. A few have provided their insights and inputs into the matter. Others even have dissenting opinions, or at least don’t think that having PayPal would be helpful enough.

Links to these other posts and news items are available here. Reader fedeback can be found on the comment thread.

Things haven’t been quite slow these past days. I guess everyone’s busy. But here are milestones, so far.

* We’ve registered a domain, www.paypal4ph.com and even set-up an update blog at www.paypal4ph.com/blog (thanks to my colleague “J4s0n”:http://j4s0n.com ).
* We asked uber-cool designer Ia (who also works with us at Enthropia) to create some artwork for the site.
* J4s0n is coding a cool sign-up sheet with an equally cool frontpage (Enthropia is the team behind iBox, which I think is really cool). We can probably ride on the existing signature campaign on petition spot launched last year, which has 812 signatures to date. However, I think it would be good to start fresh (and so everyone who would sign up actually knows what the issues are).
* Mainstream media update: Joey Alarilla (journalist, problogger, father, and Palanca awardee) has written about the *PayPal for the Philippines initiative on CNet Asia*. Joey also writes for Inq7.net and I do hope we make it there, too, one of these days. His fellow Inq7.net journalist Erwin Oliva has also expressed interest in the advocacy, and I do hope we get the much needed mainstream-media mileage.

Other ideas:

* We’re likely to move the advocacy site to a .com.ph domain to support the use.com.ph campaign (and since it’s for the Philippines, anyway!).

Open Source / Collaboration

Sad to say, running an advocacy is not that easy. Firstly, I’m quite rusty as an economist, and after all, being a jack-of-all-trades makes one a master of none. So I’m not your expert on tech and e-commerce either, but I do try to make the most out of what information I can digest from other sources. And one of the things I’ve been a big fan of is OpenSource.

The most important thing I learned from the Open Source movement is that collaboration is key to producing great ideas and great output. Hence, with this in mind, I think it’s best to move forward with the PayPal for the Philippines advocacy as a collaborative activity. We are already doing this, as various people are contributing to advancing the cause in their own ways. However, we need to come up with a more defined and focused output. We need to get our facts and figures straight. We need to be able to talk to the right people (and at the right time).

For one, we need to come up with a whitepaper, as Migs suggested on the original blog post. We need a more solid argument to support our cause, and to help convince the right people (i.e., those in government, the banking sector, and even eBay/PayPal management itself) and in this regard, I think collaborative work is the way to go.

So here’s what our next step would be. I’m hoping for inputs and suggestions on how we can go about with it. For now, we shall be setting up a Wiki on the advocacy page to get started on a draft whitepaper (link later). Any inputs and help (with the appropiate sources and citations needed, of course) would be much appreciated.

I’ve had it with petty bickerings in government and among politicians in this quaint little country of mine. People talk about big-time issues like constitutional change, corruption and the like, but people still seem to advance their own interests, while sacrificing the welfare of the rest of us in the process. This is why I choose to be apolitical. I’ve never voted in my entire life. Some might say I’m wasting the potentials of my vote. But what worth would that vote be if the supposed wisdom of the masses (which is the point of democracy) produces crappy leadership (and perhaps followership)?

And we know that crappy leadership causes instability in the economy, which causes us to remain poor, which causes people to have the tendency to make wrong decisions*, which causes us to choose crappy leaders.

Or at least the economist in me would say that.

*I have no bias against the poor, but I think to uplift one’s status in life, one has to think rich!

Employment, Underemployment, Unemployment

We are at 12% rate of unemployment and 20% of the workforce is underemployed.

We have a million people leaving the country each year to work overseas as nannies, caregivers and domestic helpers (most, though not all), when a lot of these people used to have knowledge-based work or at least white-collar work–as accountants, teachers, and the like–in the country. I have nothing against offering care to those who need it (hey, my kids need a nanny. Give me a buzz if you know someone!) or doing household work, which is also an honorable means to make a living. However, I just don’t feel it’s right to let one’s profession and skills atrophy just because the pay is better in nominal terms somewhere else.

They are considered modern-day heroes. They send in money from abroad in the form of remittances to their families here. They bolster our economy by contributing to the supply of foreign currency in circulation (which keeps the value of the Peso from falling, but that might be a concern for the export sector–but, alas, we digress).

But this is at the expense of family life. Imagine, mother and father leaving their kids under the care of relatives or other people just to make a decent living.

The other side of the coin is the trend of offshored businesseses coming into the country. Yes, it’s cool that foreign companies choose to outsource their transaction-based jobs here to us. There are the call centre agents, the medical transcriptionists, and the technical support people. There are also other white-collar undertakings such as accounting, software development and the like.

However, I still consider it to be unfair to the people involved, namely those who are employed in the BPO sector. My reason? It’s the companies that gain much of the benefit. Granted, they set up the infrastructure and they take on the overhead for operations. This emboldens them to take a big cut of the compensation pie. When American, British, or other European firms pay about $1,000 to $1,500 per month per call centre seat, the actual call centre agent only gets about PhP 15,000 to 20,000 (or $300 to 400) of that amount. Add to that the health issues brought about by having to work in shifts and having to change shifts every so often (which is a practice in the industry), then guess who’s on the losing end?

There must be another way.

My proposal

Here’s a simple proposal of mine.

I believe there is a good pool of talented people in the Philippines just waiting to be tapped. For instance, I write. And I know people who write really well (in fact, I’ve gone as far as hiring them to work with the company I’m involved with). I also know people who can develop great web apps and create Go Ogle worthy designs, whether on their own or under the guidance of foreign visionaries.

In fact this is what we do at Enthropia. Just one of the many things, actually. There are a handful of us here in the country (as well as in other Asian countries) working on our projects and we’re on a mobile/home-based working arrangement.

We basically render work for our North America-based mother entity (likewise a lean team) and they pay us for our services. Directly. And not having to pass through some big-ass company that will take a big chunk off our earnings.

We don’t have a glitzy office in Makati or Eastwood, nor do we plan to set one up anytime soon. We each pay for our own equipment and infrastructure. We feel this current arrangement of ours lets us be robust enough to accomplish what has to be done without all the administrative overhead.

Call it freelancing. Call it the informal sector. Call it the underground economy.

Other people probably aren’t aware of the possibility that one can work for foreign companies without passing through intermediaries (or middlemen) here, nor actually going abroad. And if they were, most of the time the hindrance would be the means by which money can be transmitted.

You can render a service and send whatever needs to be sent or done by email (or IM or SMS) but money’s a different thing altogether.

Yes, there are a handful of remittance services, but here’s the problem:

* They take a big cut
* They are not convenient

If only we had PayPal in the Philippines, then I think we would be able to open to the world better means to access to our pool of talent.

In the course of my freelance work as a writer/blogger I’ve had clients who paid via money transfer and it took days, and it was expensive. Xoom? It’s a good mid-way solution, but still not as convenient as having the real deal (PayPal). After all, they still get a cut, and the paying party still has to register for an account, where his PayPal details would then be keyed in.

There’s my simple thesis.

Having PayPal in the country would greatly benefit the following people:

* Web developers,
* Designers,
* Photographers,
* Writers,
* Pro-bloggers,

and virtually anyone else who can render services remotely while corresponding via the Internet. Their correspondents can pay simply by clicking a few buttons, and that’s it.

This would be a great opportunity for both sides, as it will open up access to the supply of good talent, and as well as open up access to those who are on the demand-side.

Who said perfect capital mobility should be impossible? In this day and age, where knowledge—or rather Knowledge with a capital K—is the foremost capital, mobility knows no geographic bounds!

However, PayPal won’t deal with us. It’s probably because we have a history of having potential for money laundering activities. Or maybe it’s because of poor security in banking or credit card transactions.

The point is that we have to lobby for inclusion as a PayPal enabled country.

If our Anti-Money Laundering Act is crappy, then we should lobby for a change for the better. If implementation is poor, then we should lobby for stricter enforcement.

Let’s work together!

I’ve had a talk with an esteemed gentleman from the country’s Liberal political family, and he’s very much interested with my idea. I know this is not an original idea of mine (the need for access to online financial transactions, namely PayPal), but probably other people haven’t brought it up to the level of actually trying to do something about it.

Here’s our chance. Let’s join forces, organize, and formalize so we can better forward our cause. I’m probably not the best person to mobilize people but I sure do have a lot of ideas.

Anyone wanna be involved in this?

Updates

Sites that link to this post, as of 2006-07-24 09:41H (darn trackbacks/pingbacks aren’t working).

* Crimson Crux (Phillip Kimpo)
* Pinoytechblog (c/o Arnold Gamboa)
* Random Takes (Migs Paraz)
* The Mike Abundo Effect (okay, Mike, is there really such a thing as a Mike Abundo Effect?)
* Snow World
* TechnoPinoy (Mon Abasolo)
* Captain’s Log (Jepoy Bengero)
* Alleba Blog (Andrew dela Serna)
* Touched by an Angel (Noemi Lardizabal-Dado)
* Bubbleheadnut’s Livejournal
* Bitstop Network Services blog
* Wonderful World of Jonas
* Yugatech: PayPal in the Philippines via Xoom (Abe Olandres)
* Babelmachine: Bloggers lobby for PayPal in the Philippines (Joey Alarilla)
* Planet Pinoy Biz & Jozzua. com (both by Jozzua)
* TechnoPinoy, again (Mon would rather not have PayPal )

In mainstream media (papers, blogs, etc.)

* CNet Asia: Bloggers lobby for PayPal in the Philippines (by Joey Alarilla)

Posted elsewhere:

* DIGG this story!
* ForeverGeek

*Update, 2006-07-20 1500H*: We’re setting up an advocacy site, www.paypal4ph.com. Right now, the site redirects to this blog post until we come up with something better. Credits to Jason for setting up the domain and hosting. Ia will be doing the logo, and Phillip would be helping me out with the writeups (the blurbs, taglines, etc.). I hope to be able to come up with a whitepaper of sorts, as Migs suggested in a comment below.

Some words of advice

One of web hosting companies inmotion hosting started working in 2001 and provided its customers with best web hosting services as well as network management software. When you go for advanced web hosting services you have to be very careful about your PC protection and zone alarm internet security can protect your computer and internet. For your windows and data protection users install antivirus software. The latest technology of wireless internet can further facilitate the users because now they can avoid corded nastiness and enjoy better accessibility of internet. Most of the users prefer chat software to share data and files online.

Earlier this afternoon, I perused a copy of the Philippine Internet Review: 10 years of internet in the Philippines (1994-2004) (thank you for the complimentary copy, Janette!). I haven’t finished up with the whole thing, but the writeups by Janette, Migs, and Danny (and as well the other writers) were all very enlightning, so far. However, one thing prevailed in my mind while reading: Where was I during all this?

I have always considered myself to be at the forefront of technology–or at least I try to keep abreast of whatever’s new and whatever’s happening. Back during the heyday of the BBS, I was quite active in the community (I even operated my own BBS and started a Fidonet-based network). When the Web as we know it was young, I also tried to get in the scene, being active in forums, message groups, and trying to learn Web markup.

Of course, I didn’t get anywhere near what those featured in the book had accomplished. And somehow, I think I never will, simply because I’d rather not be in the middle of things–I’d rather work behind the scenes, or even observe from the outside, looking at things from that excellent vantage point. Better perspectives? Probably.

In the online world and the Internet-related industries, I believe there are influential and accomplished people who are, and will be, prominently featured as movers and shakers. And my hat’s off to them. However, things tend to happen simultaneously, and there are also important things that happen in the background, behind the limelight, and on the sidelines.

I’d rather not forget the contributions of everyone else, though. In this world in which everything is connected, everyone has a part to play after all. We’re one big community of creators (and consumers). That’s probably a better definition of “World Wide Web.”

I know some people who truly are movers and shakers, but would rather not be named, and would rather remain in the sidelines, content that the work they begin meets success at the hands of others. They’re still truly the ones at the helm of everything, though.

It’s like being a covert operative connected to a group of other similar people within a super-secret organization–trying to shape world affairs without being noticed.

And in a way, I feel that I’m doing the same, in my own small ways. But then again, the smallest of snowflakes can start an avalanche.

So here’s to ten–or rather, twelve–years of the Philippine Internet!