To ensure that the public has access to right and up-to-date information amid the concerns over COVID-19, PLDT provided free access to government and news websites for PLDT Home WiFi and PLDT Home Volume based plans.
PLDT and its wireless subsidiary, Smart Communications, also supported the Department of Health and the 911 National Emergency Hotline of the Department of Interior and Local Government for the launch of a hotline for COVID-19 concerns.
The access numbers for the DOH COVID-19 emergency hotline are 02894-COVID or 02-894-26843, and, 1555. The hotline number 02894-COVID or 02-894-26843 is open to all callers nationwide. The hotline number 1555 is initially accessible only to PLDT, Smart, Sun, and TNT subscribers.
To aid in creating a more efficient communication system among government agencies, PLDT provided free WiFi Internet and landline calls in critical areas including command centers, transportation systems, and health centers in Batangas City, Lucena, Zamboanga, General Santos City and Davao.
Earlier, Smart also provided free access to the websites of the Department of Health, particularly its COVID-19 Tracker; and the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.
Empowering communities
Empowering all sectors nationwide, PLDT and Smart also continuously provide constant connectivity among employees, customers, and enterprises to ensure that work-from-home arrangements and communications are underway.
PLDT Chairman and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan issued a statement about the Group’s efforts to support its employees amid the COVID-19 crisis. “We are helping our employees by maintaining their salaries and benefits during the crisis. We have asked them to Work from Home,” Pangilinan said.
Over the past week, the MVP Group continues to pour in support for the country’s frontline health workers. Roxas Holdings, Inc., recently turned over 4,000 Liters of 70% ethyl alcohol from Roxol Bionergy Corporation to frontline health workers of key government hospitals, including facilities of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Responding to the call of some of the country’s musicians and artists, PLDT donated P1-million to the Bayanihan Musikahan initiative of the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP). Through its Balik-Baterya funds, PLDT is among the pioneer sponsors of this initiative. It is one of the first three companies to respond to this effort. Moreover, PayMaya serves as the official donation platform of the Bayanihan Musikahan initiative.
Frontline health workers from the V. Luna Hospital receive the grocery packs from MVP Group’s Tulong Kapatid.
Tulong Kapatid, the corporate social responsibility consortium of the MVP Group, deployed over 1,000 grocery packs to the families of frontline health workers at V. Luna Hospital and the frontline Armed Forces of the Philippines checkpoint officers.
In support of ongoing efforts of the PSF, members of MVP Rewards may also convert their rewards to donations via the MVP Rewards app or mvprewards.ph. Donations will be used in the purchase of care packs for frontline health workers, checkpoint officers, emergency response teams and communities in need during the quarantine period. The service is currently available to enrolled MVP Rewards accounts of PLDT Home, Smart, Sun, TNT, Cignal as well as Delos Santos Medical Center, Makati Medical Center and Easy Trip RFID.
Carrier-grade, fiber-powered Smart WiFi is also available at several hospitals and transportation systems such as buses and trains in Metro Manila.
PLDT-Smart Foundation, in partnership with Smart, also turned over satellite phones, load credits, and anti-bacterial sanitizing dispensers to the Department of Tourism (DOT) in Boracay. Moreover, Smart also turned over phones and load credits to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM). Furthermore, Smart also provided a connectivity platform in General Santos for COVID-19 monitoring.
PLDT-Smart Foundation and Smart turn over satellite phones, load credits and anti-bacterial sanitizing dispensers to the Department of Tourism in Boracay.
Delivering quality consumer experience
To provide assistance to its customers, PLDT and Smart placed a 30-day payment extension period for all postpaid customers of PLDT Home, PLDT Enterprise, Smart & Sun Postpaid.
To ensure a seamless work and study from home arrangement, PLDT also provided a speed boost for Fibr subscribers in which the minimum speed will be 25 Mbps until April 30, 2020. This will be applied to residents of Metro Manila and parts of Greater Manila including Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal.
To provide its prepaid subscribers a better way to stay safe and connected during this difficult time, Smart introduced its “Free Stories For All” campaign. This gives Smart prepaid and TNT subscribers an extra 1 GB of data for Facebook, Instagram, and Tiktok.
