The Tulong Kapatid consortium of the companies under businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan continues its relief efforts for residents affected by the eruption of Taal Volcano.
PLDT Community Relations Head Katherine Diaz De Rivera (left) and PLDT-Smart Foundation President Esther Santos (right) give relief packs to a Taal Volcano eruption evacuee on Thursday at the Sto. Tomas North Central School in Sto. Tomas, Batangas.
Maynilad teamed up with the Department of Public Works and Highways to fill up 10 water tankers for cleaning purposes. The water services provider also donated 1,500 pieces of 6-liter bottled water to evacuees in Calaca, Batangas, where two Static Water Tanks (SWTs) were also installed for sanitation, hygiene, and ashfall clearing. Maynilad will station tankers in the area to continuously refill these. Aside from Calaca, various evacuation areas will also receive SWTs in coordination with the Local Government offices and Office of the Civil Defense.
Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC) continues to conduct ashfall clearing of the Cavite-Laguna Expressway. The toll road developer and operator also ensures standby water supply for windshield washing to ensure unimpeded passage of motorists. Up to 2,500 families evacuated in the areas of Silang, Amadeo, Tagaytay, Alfonso, and Nasugbu can also expect continuous relief distribution efforts from MPTC in the next days.
One Meralco Foundation (OMF) deployed its solar-powered mobile charging stations in evacuation centers while Meralco's linemen and engineers work round the clock to immediately restore power in affected areas. Together with TV5’s Alagang Kapatid Foundation Inc. (AKFI), OMF also distributed more than 3,000 relief packages to residents staying at various evacuation centers in Batangas and Cavite. It also teamed up with PLDT-Smart Foundation (PSF) for its feeding missions.
Food, connectivity, medical needs
PSF distributed relief goods and hot meals to over 500 evacuees staying at Tagaytay City Integrated School in Cavite. The ongoing feeding missions are joint initiatives with OMF and AKFI, which provided the use of its truck.
Hundreds of evacuated families in sites such as Sto. Tomas Central and Primary Annex Schools were provided by PLDT and PSF with an assortment of hygiene kits and relief goods, with fruits given specifically for children to aid in nutrition. The telco team will continue to distribute food and personal care supplies to different evacuation centers around Batangas City within the next days.
For ease of communication and coordination, PLDT and wireless services subsidiary Smart also set-up Libreng Tawag (free calls) and WiFi Internet booths in various relocation and coordination sites. Areas include the relief operations headquarters at Batangas Sports Complex, where connectivity efforts are conducted by the PLDT Batangas Consumer Experience Zone and Provincial Department of Social Welfare and Development. In coordination with Batangas City Governor Dodo Mandanas, PLDT also set-up an additional booth for free WiFi Internet services at the Command Center adjacent to Batangas Sports Complex.
Smart likewise continued to extend communications support through free calls, charging, and Wi-Fi services at several designated evacuation sites in Batangas and Cavite (for the full list of libreng tawag sites, please visit facebook.com/SmartCommunities). The company also provided mobile credits for the site coordinators. In collaboration with its provincial distributors and various MVP group companies, Smart also took part in relief and feeding efforts at the temporary shelters.
Affected Batangas residents can also access fast, free and fiber-powered Smart WiFi available in parks, hospitals, government offices, transportation hubs, and other key high foot-traffic areas in the province.
Smart WiFi is available at transport hubs like the Port of Batangas, government offices like the Capitol of Batangas, Municipal Hall of Santo Tomas and City Hall of Tanauan; public parks like the Tanauan City Plaza; hospitals like Lipa Medix, St Frances Cabrini Medical Center in Santo Tomas, and San Antonio Medical Center of Lipa; and campuses like the Lyceum of the Philippines University in Batangas City.
While Smart’s mobile phone network is operating normally in most of the areas affected, Smart has also been working to restore service in cell sites that are off-air due to the loss of commercial power. Technical teams have been dispatched to install generators in the affected cell sites.
Alagang Kapatid, meanwhile, conducted a feeding activity in partnership with PSF for hundreds of evacuees, first responder teams, and volunteers at Tolentino Sports and Activity Center in Tagaytay City. The AKFI food truck is also equipped with libreng tawag and charging facilities.
Like most companies within the MVP group, TV5 also encouraged its employees to donate funds for their ongoing relief missions. Cignal TV also teamed up with AKFI for the feeding operations.
Volunteer doctors and nurses from Makati Medical Center extended their assistance by taking charge at the mobile nebulizer stations set up within AKFI’s truck, while Cardinal Santos Medical Center extended help by providing medicines and addressing health needs of the affected residents.
Apart from supplying beddings and clothing, Metro Pacific Investments Corp. also provided at least 100 water filters for families staying at evacuation centers.
Employees, subscribers pitch in
Employee volunteers of the Tulong Kapatid consortium also took part in repacking and relief distribution efforts, and Libreng Charging, Libreng Tawag and Libreng Wifi services currently being rolled out in areas affected by the Taal eruption. The companies also have their respective fund-raising campaigns to provide additional aid to affected communities.
Subscribers of PLDT, Smart and Sun, for their part, also have the opportunity to contribute to the ongoing relief efforts of Tulong Kapatid. PLDT, Smart and Sun users may simply convert their accumulated stars in MVP Rewards to donations to the PLDT-Smart Foundation.
