PLDT Inc. (PLDT) and its wireless arm Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) upskill over 60 small-business owners, cooperative members, and livelihood associations in Borongan City, Eastern Samar for the first leg of the eBiz BuyLocal Bazaar in Visayas, in collaboration with TikTok Shop and the City Government of Borongan.

The learning caravan is part of PLDT and Smart's eBizNovation program, a digital upskilling-to-e-commerce program to assist Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and cooperatives in using digital technology to promote their businesses online.

Borongan City's 61 barangays are mostly rural and agricultural with a high incidence of poverty, and MSMEs and cooperatives play a key role in development, and in lifting the quality of life of communities in the area.

“We’re happy to bring our eBiznovation program to Borongan City and assist local MSMEs and cooperatives in their journey towards digitalization. Our goal is to empower them with the digital skills and tools they need to advance their marketing and sales strategies in today’s digital age. This will hopefully boost their income, and eventually help improve their lives and livelihood,” said Marylou Gocotano, Visayas Relations Head, Stakeholder Management at PLDT and Smart.

At the session, participants were taught how to maximize the use of the e-commerce platform TikTok Shop to effectively promote their products online and reach more customers outside of Borongan City. Apart from that, the whole day learning session also included topics on the basics of social media marketing, content creation, internet safety, and an introduction to the Maya Business App to help grow their businesses and earn extra income.

“This training served as an eye-opener for us to embrace new digital ways for product marketing. I can't wait to impart to other Boronganon women the knowledge I gained from this training, particularly how beneficial TikTok Shop is to our businesses,” said Jennifer Amancio, President of Kababayin-an ha Borongan City Association, an organization enabling women communities in Borongan through livelihood opportunities.

“I’m thankful that PLDT and Smart are helping the city government in elevating the livelihood of our people through this capacity-building training. This initiative can greatly help our local entrepreneurs in promoting Borongan City and our local products to the world,” said Borongan City Mayor Jose Ivan Dayan Agda.

PLDT, through its corporate business arm PLDT Enterprise, and Smart provided fiber connectivity and network boost to serve the connectivity needs of the participants for the entire training.

For the next Visayas runs, PLDT and Smart will take the learning caravan to the municipalities of Sibalom, Antique and Miagao, Iloilo.

This initiative is aligned with the PLDT group’s commitment to helping the Philippines achieve UNSDG #8: Decent Work and Economic Growth, and to support the government's overall

digitalization thrust as one of the founding members of the government-mandated Presidential Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) under the Digital Infrastructure Pillar.