Future Possibilities of the Internet

By now all of you have heard that Virtual Assistant Technologies Inc Iloilo has closed.

I would like to apologize to most of you for the closing of the iloilo office. I would also like to explain to you why it happened and why it happened in this abrupt manner.

Some of you may know that VAT Inc has NOT been a profitable business for me..

Since I began to invest in the business back in 2008 I have invested more than $200,000 USD that has not come back to me.

Virtual Assistant Technologies Inc was a company that I invested in with the majority of the “stock” ownership being Ms. Hyzent Aurelio. We had an agreement that I’d be the investor (ALL the money to start and maintain the company was provided by me). Ms Aurelio’s main responsibility was to be my main point of contact here in the Philippines and she was to be the individual to protect my business interests (watch my back) here in the Philippines as I was concerned about the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) rating for the Philippines for foreign investment was rated extremely low (3%). Over these past 3 years I have honored my agreement with MS. Aurelio whereby she and others have received substantial financial compensation that far exceeds her performance and the performance of VAT Inc.

For 3 years I have attempted to provide the Iloilo community with jobs for individuals who possessed skills in the internet and web development category. For three years I have experienced many individuals who have outstanding work ethic and excellent skills. I have also experienced a significant number of individuals whose work ethic has been extremely LOW and who have tried to do the bare minimum. These individuals are the same people who are constantly surfing on the internet, logging into Facebook and even working on their personal projects while at work. For 3 years I have attempted to have Philippine management (mainly Ms Hyzent and MS Van) teach VAT employees to work when at the office and that it is not acceptable to watch YouTube, play games online nor network with your friends on Facebook while your supposed to be working on client accounts or my Business websites. When an employee is paid for their time they are to work for the company not do what they want or go to sleep. To this date there are individuals who consistently violate these principles.

I have also come to learn other factors where my “business interests” were not protected. I have come to learn that consistent “mistakes” have been made during payroll. VAT employees have been getting paid for time when they have not been at work nor when they have not worked the time. Other accounting “mistakes” have also lead to requests by Ms. Hyzent for increased funds. How many more times has this happened in the past?

Recently I wired 10,000 USD into the VAT Inc bank account that went “missing”. I was the one who had to realize the funds were missing and I also had to request a meeting with the bank manager to understand where the funds had gone and why they were not available. How many times has this happened in the past 3 years?

Increased requests for wire transfers by Ms Aurelio from my USA bank to cover costs also contributed to my decision to walk away. Recently, MS. Aurelio’s request for additional funds to purchase unnecessary office equipment and supplies have contributed to my ultimate decision to withdraw my support this past weekend. As an example, requests for 10 keyboards were recently made when keyboards that were set off to the side and marked as broken actually did indeed work. Last week 20 headsets were also requested for purchase when I could not see the need for them. How many times over the past 3 years have purchases been requested that were not needed?

Recently it also came to my attention that a new company has been formed that operates under the name of Philippines Outsourcing Corporation (www.philippinesoutsourcingcorp.com). Ms. Aurelio’s new fiancee is currently working there. As shared with me by MS. Aurelio there are currently 20 employees working there. I have never been one who has minded competition because I believe there is enough business for everyone to prosper as long as we are solving problems. However, due to the major conflict of interest between Ms. Aurelio’s new fiancee working at a competitor’s company and my consistent experience of my proprietary information and systems being taught to VAT Inc employees only to have them walk away with a day’s notice… I have decided to return the consideration. I no longer wish to train/support employees at VAT only to have them move on to another company.

There are many other factors/incidences that I could write about that have lead to my decision to no longer offer my support to VAT Inc. However, the main factor is the lack of appreciation and respect for what I and my American counterparts (Dan, Dave, Paul, Brandon and Anthony) have sacrificed to provide jobs for the Iloilo community. An “Us vs. Them” (“Us” being Filipinos and “Them” being American) attitude has been promoted throughout VAT Inc by some individuals. I have personally read consistent messages posted on Facebook by a core group of past and present VAT employees who have publicly posted messages of hate, discontent and disrespect directed towards me and/or my counterparts. To you who have done that… you all are the PRIMARY reason why I have decided to walk away from VAT Inc Iloilo.

Good luck with your future endeavors,

Craig Donnelly www.VirtualAssistant.org Virtual Assistant, Inc.