Young, unmarried, and highly paid

In the span of two years, a call center employee can easily jump from entry level monthly pay of between P12,000 and P15,000 to operations manager, with a monthly pay of between P40,000 and P60,000 a month.

Why, demand is so high that call center companies no longer require a college diploma; a high school diploma would do. The companies are also now raiding industries such as hotels and banks, which traditionally have a corporate culture of being nice to paying customers.

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Chances are, Korean honeymooners who disembark at the Puerto Princesa airport in Palawan are headed for Dos Palmas Arrecefi Resort.

That’s because Dos Palmas is the closest high-end resort in the area – and that already includes a 30-minute drive to Honda Bay wharf (named after a Japanese officer during World War II) and a 45-minute boat ride to Arrecefi Island, which is the 11th farthest (of a possible 12) in the bay.

The entire island is owned by a family with mall operations in both Davao and Palawan.

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A reader reacts 1: On last Thursday’s story that Lucio Tan will probably seek advice from former Bangko Sentral Governor Gabriel Singson when his shares and that of the National Government are privatized by the end of the third quarter, a banker recalled Gabby Singson was called to several Senate hearings on the rehabilitation then being proposed for PNB.

Mr. Singson retired as senior deputy governor and served as PNB president for less than a year before returning to the Bangko Sentral as governor under the term of his boyhood friend, then President Ramos.

The banker said Mr. Tan’s negotiating team during the proposed rehabilitation was headed by former Solicitor General Estelito Mendoza and Domingo Chua.

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A reader reacts 2: Here are more suggestions from Diosdado Pamintuan Jr. that Social Security System president Corazon de la Paz and vice-president for benefits Cecilia Canlas can easily implement (at very little cost, it must be added) to better serve the pensioners who pay for their generous salaries and benefits.

Mr. Pamintuan suggests the SSS require all pensioners to annually write the pension fund on or before his/her birthday. The letter, which could be notarized to minimize any hanky-panky, must be signed and thumb-marked by the pensioner.

As an additional safeguard, the pension fund could require the pensioner to send a photo of himself/herself holding a newspaper published on his/her birthday with the banner story clearly visible.

Mr. Pamintuan also suggests the SSS require accredited banks to annually report on the pensions it regularly remits. This way, a red flag can be raised when the remitted pension is left untouched for a specific period of time.

Mr. Pamintuan asaid the current requirement for pensioners based abroad to personally report to the nearest Philippine embassy or consulate is "impractical, difficult, and expensive". By the way, that’s pretty much the same adjectives used by Philippine-based pensioners who are now required to make that once-a-year visit to the SSS.