A stable power supply has helped make Iloilo City attractive to investors, including the Information Technology and Business Process Management (IT-BPM) industry, Dr. Winston Padojinog, president of the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) said on Thursday, Oct. 19.

“Iloilo has become an IT-BPM (Information Technology and Business Process Management) center, it could be an investment center of other businesses, too, because of three important success factors in addition to power,” Padojinog said during a press conference on the sidelines of the business conference.

He earlier talked about the “Economic Impact of a Reliable Utility Provider in Times of Uncertainty,” focusing on the presence of the More Electric and Power Corporation (MORE Power) on the 2nd “What’s Up Western Visayas” as part of the Iloilo Business Week organized by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI–Iloilo chapter).

Aside from the stable power supply, educational institutions in the city are producing quality graduates now working in business process outsourcing firms (BPOs), reliable internet providers, and the city’s strategic locations being in the middle of the Philippines, spun the development of IT-BPM, he said.

“And from there will lead to many other investments like housing, food, retail, transport, and of course demand for more power,” he added.

In the same press conference, former Senate President Franklin Drilon said BPOs used to bypass Iloilo City because they needed sustainable power.

“At that time, I was already trying to help improve Iloilo. We were bypassed by the BPO industry because of lack of power and stable distribution,” he said.

“In fairness to MORE, they really assisted and improved the investment climate in Iloilo by providing a stable and adequate distribution system, which made Iloilo attractive to the BPO industries,” the former lawmaker added.

Drilon also attended the business conference and talked about “Economic Landscape and Investment Opportunities in Iloilo City” .

Data from the Iloilo Federation of Information Technology (I-FIT) showed 103 BPOs operating in the city and province of Iloilo, 20 of which are big firms based in the city, employing over 41,000 Ilonggos.

MORE Power started its operations in Feb. 2020 after taking over the distribution assets of Panay Electric Company (PECO).

Currently, the distribution utility (DU) serves over 93,000 accounts.

Meanwhile, the result of the comprehensive study conducted under the auspices of the UA&P this year showed the growth in the DU’s customer base has contributed an average of P4.99 billion annually to Iloilo City’s Gross City Domestic Product (GCDP), accounting for approximately 3.8 percent of the city’s total economy.

It has also created 6,693 direct and indirect employment from 2020 to 2022, reducing the average number of unemployed individuals in the city by 10.6 percent per year, generating P1.75 billion worth of additional income for households in the same period.

The reduction in system losses has directly benefited consumers by providing them with extra income, with approximately P1.01 million added to the economy through consumption spending.

MORE Power accounted for about 19 percent of the economic growth of Iloilo City in 2022.Perla Lena/PNA