Order of Utopia: Disengagement

In 1964, my classmates at the Ateneo School of Law founded a new fraternity, the Order of Utopia.  Today,  Rafael E. Evangelista, Francisco E. Rodrigo Jr.,  Eduardo J.  Berenguer and myself are constrained to write this letter:

“As the Founding Members of the Order of Utopia, we wish to publicly announce our disengagement from the Order. 

“It is with profound regret that we write this letter of disengagement.  But we do so with the conviction that it is the correct thing to do, if only to convey our message to Utopia’s membership that we, the Founding Members, have always stood firmly against any form of violence or hazing within the Organization. 

“We wish to remind the general membership of Utopia, alumni and students alike, of the non-violent, anti-hazing roots of the Organization.  Indeed, the Order was formed in 1964 as a non-violent Honors Society in an attempt to establish a counter-culture against the atmosphere of violence prevailing at that time in fraternities of various schools, including the Ateneo School of Law. 

“Why did we, the Founding Members, eschew violence?  Because we ourselves were the victims of violence from members of a fraternity that dominated the Ateneo School of Law campus for years.  Without any provocation on our part, these frat members fired their pistols at us one day as we sat chatting in the campus, perhaps as part of their initiation.  While we could have retaliated in kind, we chose not to do so, fueled by the conviction that violence would only divide the School into factions that would recklessly and senselessly fight one another.  In addition to that incident of violence, we also experienced a bewildering episode with classmates, who were once good friends, turning their backs on us simply because they were being initiated into that fraternity.  It was with this perspective in mind that we proceeded to organize the Order of Utopia as an Honors Society to unify, rather than to divide, the Law School.

“We, as the Founding Members of Utopia, have pleaded for years for the Organization to return to its roots as an Honors Society that espouses academic excellence and communal unity without the use of violence and without hazing.  However, after so many years, this plea has continued to fall on deaf ears of certain sectors of the Order.  These sectors have unfortunately managed to curtail a return of the Organization to its roots of non-violence and non-hazing.

“We, the Founding Members, do not understand, nor do we accept, the recalcitrance and obstinacy of this group of members.  This stubbornness runs counter not only to common sense and to the Organization’s history, but also flies in the face of the recent public furor generated by the violent death of hazing victim, Guillo Servando, of La Salle, College of Saint Benilde.

“Aurello Servando ,when he spoke recently about the death of his son, Guill, from hazing by members of the Tau Gamma Phi Fraternity:  “I won’t take the law into my own hands, but I would like to ask them, ‘Why did you have to inflict so much pain on my son?’ ”Guillo’s death “is at the hands of a bunch of animals who did not deserve to have control of my son’s life.  I’d rather see him die some other way. . . It’s so useless.”

“Republic Act 8049, the Anti-Hazing Law, imposes a penalty of up to life imprisonment for the use of violence, physical or psychological, for the use of violence in initiation rites. The penalties are imposable not only on the participants at the rites, but also on fraternity officials and alumni who condone the hazing. 

“Can a death from hazing such as that which happened to Guillo Servando ever happen within the Order of Utopia?  Can members of Utopia be exposed one day to the penal sanctions imposed by law for injury or death caused by hazing and/or other forms of violence?  Our answers are yes, if hazing and physical and psychological harm continue to be part of the Organization’s culture.

“We, the Founding Members, publicly renounce hazing, including violence in any form. We demand that Utopia publicly announce its return to its roots as a non-violent Honors Society. Let Utopia be the first among similar school organizations to proclaim publicly that it supports an all inclusive culture of men for others, and that it does not practice an exclusive culture of brotherhood fostered by harm and humiliation.” 

BPO services moving back to India

I quote portions of an article written by Jochelle Mendonca of The Economic Times (ET):

“Last year, the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry in India estimated that the country had lost over 50 percent of the international voice centre business to the Philippines.

“But that may be changing as the Philippines grapples with rising attrition levels and wage costs and a large concentration of clients being served out of a very small region, leading to business risks.

“Business process outsourcing companies also point out that Indian employees are better at jobs that require some aspect of sales, as clients look to convert their call centres from purely a cost centre to a unit that could also drive some revenue for them..

“Also helping the shift back to India is the fact that “pure voice” services are falling out of fashion, and the newer multichannel offerings — which combine email and chat – have a technology aspect that is better suited to delivery out of India.

“The Philippines had an edge in pure voice customer service. But if you have technology-enabled services for customer support, or for services like technology support, for that we see the centre of gravity moving back here,” said KS Viswanathan, vice-president at industry body Nasscom.

“Convergys, a US BPO company with centres in India, is one of the companies adding agents to its multi-channel customer service offerings in India, its India head Hanumant Talwar had told ET.”

I believe Convergys Philippines and IT-BPAP should rebut these statements immediately.