European firm sets up headquarters in Cebu

The strategic location of Cebu and the Filipinos' established reputation when it comes to service prompted a European company, specializing in emergency response services, to set up its Southeast Asia headquarters in Cebu.

Blake Emergency Services (BES) will initially recruit 700 emergency service volunteers to man the Asia Pacific operations in the next few months, said BES director for Far East operations Jeffrey K. Chancellor in a press conference.

BES which is a wholly owned private company based in the United Kingdom, attributed Filipinos' "bayanihan" culture as one of the main reasons why it has set up its Southeast Asia hub here.

"Filipinos are known for its sense of volunteerism and caring attitude, which you cannot easily find in people from China, Indonesia, or other parts of Asia. So it only makes sense to have a team of Filipinos," said Chancellor.

According to Chancellor, the Filipino team will be tasked to respond to multiple fatality disaster in Southeast Asian countries.

"Cebu is also very strategically located to immediately respond to emergency calls from Asia. The province has the easiest way out," he added.

The company's Cebu headquarters will be in Nivel Hills. BES had been recruiting for the last six months from all over the country.

However, until now it has not reached its initial 700 volunteer requirement, he said adding "the company is carefully choosing members for the team."

BES has been serving global companies in recovery operations during disasters. It's been operating in Europe for more than 30 years.

Its client base includes shipping, airline, hotel, tour companies, local government units, among others.

In the Philippines, this kind of service is quiet new, as emergency services such as calamity problems, typhoon, fire, plane crash, among others are mainly helped by volunteers mostly from the government and non-government organizations (NGOs).

"Blake is not a volunteer organization. It is a business. We can step in whenever there is an emergency so that the concern or victim can run their businesses as usual," he said.

Aside from recovery and rescue of the victims, the company will also recover their belongings.

It also has a dedicated call center to answer queries from relatives and other interested parties.

The company has tied up with Cebu-based Cosmopolitan Memorial Chapels Inc. owned by Renato Dychangco.

Also, Chancellor said most of the company's service team, will come from the mortuary industry tapping the Philippine Mortuary Association (PMA), because these people know best in the death care service industry.