AlloyMTD to build P1.5-B Palayan gov’t business and BPO center

By Bernie Cahiles-Magkilat Malaysia’s infrastructure conglomerate AlloyMTD is investing P1.5 billion to develop the Palayan City Government Center and Central Business Hub (PCBH). In a statement, AlloyMTD Chairman Isaac David  said they will develop a three-hectare property into government and business center, which is envisioned to host satellite offices of at least 12 national government agencies as well as several Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) centers, both local and foreign-owned. The property has been declared by President Duterte under Proclamation No. 526, on June 25, 2018 as an information technology park (ITP). It covers a land area of 30,013 square meters and is located in Barangay Singalat in Palayan City in Nueva Ecija. The presence of government offices in PCBH will make it easy for residents of Palayan City as well as from other cities and municipalities of Nueva Ecija to transact business with the national government as this will serve as a one-stop-shop especially those who are planning to work abroad. Satellite offices include that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT), Social Security Service (SSS), Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth). Extension offices of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Department of Education (DepEd) and Commission on Elections (COE) are also underway. The BPO center has two buildings that can accommodate a total of 4,000 seats. During the soft opening in March, 2015, some BPO offices already started operations with only 230 seats. Additional seats were added in the following months until the target of 4,000 seats was achieved in 2017. The BPO center in PCBH was under the public-private partnership (PPP) scheme. The Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia-based AlloyMTD agreed to put up the project and operate it for the next 30 years. No less than Malaysia’s Trade and Industry Minister Dato Sri Mustapa Mohamed led the inauguration rites for the BPO centers in 2015. Also present in the inauguration were Palayan City Mayor Rianne Cuevas; Tansri Azmil, chairman of AlloyMTD; Malaysian Ambassador Dato Raszlan Abdul Rashid; Bases Conversion, and Development Authority Chairman Vince Dizon; Bataan Gov. Albert Garcia and former Senator Manuel Villar.