India is the Philippines' main rival in the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector, and last month's attacks on its financial hub would have forced multinationals to rethink their policies, CB Richard Ellis said.

"After the Mumbai attacks more BPOs in India will be inclined to set up secondary operations and backup/mirror sites in the Philippines," it said.

Among the candidate sites Cebu, in the central Philippines, stands out, it said. The main reason for that is because key Indian BPO locators WIPRO and Infosys are located in Cebu and because office rentals in Manila have been rising for the past three years.

"The name of the game this time around for BPO is lower operating cost," CB Richard Ellis chairman Rick Santos said, noting that BPO growth has been the primary driver of property sector expansion in the Philippines.

"Large corporations are being hit hard by the US recession. They're searching for a safe haven for their investments and, having doubts about security in India, Cebu is an ideal choice," he added.

Cebu, a popular tourist destination, has 415,000 square metres (4.5 million square feet) of office space being built, while 1,930 hotel rooms are expected to be built next year to add to the 7,384 rooms already there, it added.

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