(May 11, 2020) – The PLDT Group has stepped up its efforts to keep its customers connected and to provide communications support for the country’s frontliners in the fight against COVID-19.

PLDT-Smart also teamed up with affiliate firms Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC) and Meralco to give humanitarian assistance to health workers and affected communities in various parts of the country.

“Connectivity is a powerful weapon in the fight against the pandemic. Our first task is to keep our customers connected. That way, they can stay at home and still do their work, study, keep in touch with their family and friends, and stay informed on how to best protect themselves and their families. If people stay home and stay safe, they can help keep the virus from spreading far and wide,” PLDT Chairman and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan said.

“At the same time, we are equipping frontline agencies and their personnel with fast, reliable and innovative communications and digital services. That helps them to be quicker, more efficient and effective in taking the actions needed to fight the pandemic. It also helps keep them safe and healthy. That is how we at PLDT and Smart can best help our country during this unprecedented health emergency,” he added.

Keeping Filipinos connected
The immediate response of PLDT and Smart to the government’s decision to impose the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Luzon last March 16 was to improve internet services for their customers.

PLDT Home gave its Fibr subscribers a speed boost that raised the minimum data speed to 25 Mpbs until April 30, 2020. This applied to customers in Metro Manila and surrounding provinces such as Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal.

Smart Communications doubled the data allocation for its postpaid subscribers and enhanced its data packages for prepaid customers. Alongside this, it provided free mobile data access to various government websites starting with that of the Department of Health (DOH) so that its customers could get the latest official information about the COVID-19 pandemic.

PLDT, Smart, Sun and TNT users can also make calls without being charged to the 1555 COVID-19 Hotline, the 911 Emergency Hotline and 8888 Citizens’ Complaint Center. Subscribers can also access for free the websites of news organizations like News5, One News, BusinessWorld, Philippine Star, ABS-CBN News, GMA News and CNN Philippines until April 14, 2020.

To lighten the financial burden of their customers during these difficult times, PLDT and Smart stretched out the payment of monthly bills for postpaid services by 30 days. When the government extended the ECQ in Luzon up to end-April, monthly bills payment was pushed back to April 30, 2020. Moreover, PLDT-Smart put in place a bills payment program where their customers with postpaid subscriptions for fixed line and mobile services can pay for their outstanding bills as of April 30, 2020 in six, equal monthly installments.

To keep its network services running despite the COVID pandemic, PLDT-Smart also placed key network facilities in Metro Manila under total lockdown, limiting entry to these locations and keeping personnel assigned there on-site for the duration of community quarantine restrictions.

Equipping frontliners
Through its enterprise unit, PLDT provided a number of tablet devices and cloud push-to-talk service units to help ease and centralize inter-branch communication among frontline health workers at designated DOH COVID-19 hospitals. PLDT Enterprise also provided Smart Messaging Suite accounts to identified healthcare centers.

PLDT Enterprise has also tied up with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Inter-agency Task Force (IATF) to enable the RapidPass QR Project. RapidPass.ph is a website through which frontliners, who need to travel can register and be given authorization to go through quarantine checkpoints. As proof of authorization, these frontliners are given a QR code that can be saved on a smartphone or printed on paper and displayed on a vehicle to quickly go through checkpoints.

Likewise, the Department of Information and Communications Technology and PLDT also teamed up with the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to allow free WiFi for healthcare workers and on-ground security personnel being ferried by government-supplied bus transports around Metro Manila.

Smart is also providing free and 24/7WiFi to several major newly activated COVID-19 treatment facilities such as the Ninoy Aquino Stadium at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex, the Philippine International Convention Center Tent and the World Trade Center.

COVID-19 hotlines and Smart pocket WiFi units have also been deployed to LGUs, command centers and critical areas in NCR, Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Beneficiaries include the DOH, DOTr and the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM).

Most recently, Smart donated SIMs and load cards to more than 1,000 AFP personnel deployed across Metro Manila, to provide for their connectivity needs during the ECQ.

Regional efforts
Heeding the government’s need for various technical support, PLDT has provided several government response teams with free voice and data connectivity in several critical areas and local government units. PLDT installed hotlines and free WiFi and landline services in various municipal and provincial command centers, bus terminals, police provincial offices, hotels and other areas converted for COVID-19 monitoring.
Working with various partners, PLDT and Smart have also helped provide humanitarian assistance to frontliners and affected communities.

PLDT recently supported the Bayanihan Musikahan where Filipino artists and performers raise funds to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, PLDT also supported the Kaagapay: Protect our Healthcare Heroes project, a fundraising initiative that aims to provide medical equipment such as PPE, test kits and ventilators for the healthcare sector.

The PLDT-Smart Foundation (PSF) has also partnered with PayMaya and MVP Rewards to raise funds for COVID19 frontliners.

PSF is also spearheading the Kapit Kapatid fundraising program of the PLDT Group. Through the help of PLDT and Smart Employees, PSF and HR have raised PHP 5,564,500 as of April 13, 2020.

Meanwhile, Smart conducted a #SmartMusicLive fundraising concert series to help the country’s frontline health workers. It also conducted a fund drive via Good Vibes Radio and staged a Mobile Legends Online Battle as a fundraiser for the PSF. Taken together, these activities harvested P5.5 million in added funds for frontliners.

Through the combined efforts of the PSF and the foundations of kindred companies such as the MPIC, frontline healthcare workers have received PPEs, grocery packs and hygiene kits. Some of the government response teams and hospitals assisted by PSF and the MMCF include the AFP, the Philippine General Hospital, Heart and Lung Center, East Avenue Medical Center and other government-designated COVID hospitals. PSF together with TV5 Alagang Kapatid Foundation have reached out to communities, daily wage workers and the homeless adversely affected by the ECQ.

Frontline health workers and government hospitals have also received 42,000 liters of 70% Ethyl alcohol donation from the Tulong Kapatid. The Tulong Kapatid is the corporate social responsibility consortium of companies, foundations and affiliates under the leadership of Manuel V. Pangilinan.