BPO Boss: basketball blow
By Juan Dela Cruz

A well-known call center executive in the Philippines figured in a much publicized scuffle with a popular pro basketball player just last week. Mr. Alain Katigbac, the Client Services Manager for West Contact Services’ client partner Chase, allegedly started to heckle Philippine Basketball Association player Wynne Arboleda of Burger King after audiences observed him using dirty tactics against the opposing team’s players. The players kept their composure but finally Mr. Arboleda lost his cool after getting personal abuse by the West Contact Services’ Client Services Manager. He went straight to the court ringside where Mr. Katigbac was sitting and began assaulting him with a kick in the midsection followed by 3 to 4 punches on the head. Cooler heads quickly neutralized the player’s attacks while West’s executive Mr. Katigbac could only curl into a ball to protect himself from the hard punches.

US based West Corporation owns West Contact Services in the Philippines. In India, this US Company operates as InterCall. Intercall has teamed up with tech giants like IBM to provide conference communications.  In June, 2009, for the second consecutive year, InterCall had been named Frost & Sullivan's 2009 Conferencing and Collaboration Service Provider of the Year in Asia Pacific. The award recognizes InterCall's commitment to expand and enhance service to its regional customers during 2008.

This is the most violent altercation to have ever been seen in the pro basketball league’s history. This incident quickly spread all over primetime news and YouTube and was the talk of the town and online Filipino communities until now. While most observers condemns the player for his vicious attack against a paying fan, others also see diehard fans like the West Contact Services client services manager at fault for getting too involved in the game by often taunting the players and throwing invectives at them when they dislike their actions.

Mr. Katigbac, a West Contact Services executive for almost 4 years, has deep-rooted interests in the game of basketball and was even a one-time basketball coach of an exclusive private school. Mr. Arboleda, a veteran and alternate Philippine national basketball team player, is also the son-in-law of the owners of the team he plays for and has long been considered a dirty tactician during basketball games. The West’s call center executive has consequently filed criminal charges and damage suit against the player and alleges he along with his family who witnessed the attack suffered psychologically after the incident. Meanwhile, the accused has been slapped with the stiffest penalty in league history by getting a one-year ban without pay. He, along with his team, had already made a public apology to Mr. Katigbac. However, he feels the penalty he incurred was too heavy and he plans to appeal his case. He has also indicated his willingness to face the call center executive in court to answer his charges.

(Send tips and news to me at 1delacruise@gmail.com)