Microsoft local chief, top execs grab 'separation' package

When Rafael "Pepeng" Rollan, managing director of Microsoft Philippines, told the local IT press on May 17 that the company was offering a voluntary separation package (VSP) to its local employees as part of Microsoft's global job cuts, I didn't have the slightest idea that he, too, will quit his job and take advantage of the exit package.

But that's exactly what happened as Microsoft, in a press statement this morning, announced that Rollan will relinquish his post this September. It was quite ironic since Rollan was part of the committee that evaluated the applications of the employees who wanted to be included in the VSP program.

The generous offer--three months worth of salary for every year of service, plus a month's salary upon notice of termination--may have been too tempting for Rollan to pass up. Or it could be that he was wary he might be hit by the redundancy program if he gave the VSP a miss. If that was the case, he would have received a smaller severance pay.

The information I got was that a Singaporean regional executive, Butt Wai Choon, will take on the post as the new managing director of Microsoft Philippines. The company, however, denied this and said Butt is on an advisory capacity only and will not be taking on the managing director post.

Butt is currently the general manager of Microsoft Asia-Pacific Operations Centre (APOC), a sister company of Microsoft Singapore.

The APOC was incorporated Jun. 2, 1998, as part of Microsoft's worldwide business strategy to consolidate its manufacturing and sales operations, including information processing, vendor management, logistics and related support functions, by geographical regions. The center manages the manufacturing, licensing and accounting for Microsoft's 14 sales subsidiaries in the Asia-Pacific region.

Rollan joined Microsoft in 2002 as sales manager for enterprise accounts, and held the post of director for enterprise and partner group before being named managing director in 2007.

Apart from Rollan, other top executives of Microsoft Philippines have also requested for the exit package--though none has publicly acknowledged doing so.

But, among those who hinted of their departure in their Facebook accounts included platform strategy manager Abet dela Cruz, and technology specialist Jojo Ayson.

Dela Cruz joined Microsoft in 2006 after serving as CTO of games company, Level-Up, for three years. Ayson, meanwhile, spent a total of eight years at the company. Prior to that, he was an SAP consultant from 1997 to 2000.

Larger role
In another sector of the industry, Hideto Nakamura, country manager of Epson Philippines, has taken on a larger role in the company after he was appointed to oversee seven more countries in South Asia--though, he still remains as head of Epson's local office.

The Japanese official will now divide his time between the Philippines and Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Maldives. Epson does not have formal sales offices in the countries, and Nakamura is expected to lay the groundwork for the company's expansion.

With Nakamura's wider responsibilities, the company is now grooming its No. 2 man, Ed Bonoan, to take a more active and high-profile role as he might be tapped soon to become its country chief.

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Melvin G. Calimag

Melvin G. Calimag currently writes for the infotech section of a popular English broadsheet in the Philippines. Prior to this, Melvin served as an assistant editor at Metropolitan Computer Times (MCT), the first IT publication in the Philippines. He is currently the vice president for internals at the IT Journalists Association of the Philippines (CyberPress), and also serves as a charter member with the Philippine Science Journalists Association.