MANILA, Philippines -- Local firm SPi was included in this year?s Global Services 100 rankings of top BPO (business process outsourcing) service providers.

SPi is a subsidiary of ePLDT, the information technology unit of the PLDT Group.

In a disclosure, ePLDT said SPi was ranked third in the ?Leader, Emerging Asian Markets? category in the 2008 Global Services 100 survey, issued by India?s Global Services magazine and outsourcing advisory firm neoIT.

SPi was also ranked sixth in the ?Best Performing BPO Provider? category and ninth in the ?Leader, Human Capital Development? category.

The Global Services 100 is a ranking of the top service providers in the world.

Global Services and neoIT collected third party and participant-provided data to evaluate and score service providers across four major categories -- operational excellence, human capital, service offerings and client relationships.

SPi has been in the survey?s top 10 rankings since 2005, but this year marks the first time it was ranked in the ?Leader, Emerging Asian Markets? category.

SPi employs more than 7,000 workers in 12 facilities located in Metro Manila, Laguna, Cebu, Dumaguete, Clark and Iloilo. It also has facilities in the US, India, China and Vietnam.

The company provides back-office services for industries such as litigation and publishing. ePLDT-acquired SPi in 2006 in a deal valued around $135 million.