PLDT, Inc. (PLDT) and its wireless unit Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) scale up their partnership with the local government unit of Borongan City in Eastern Samar by bringing their shared value programs to the city, promoting inclusive quality education and food security among Boronganons.
PLDT and Smart recently donated 40 Plant Smart kits to the Borongan City Agriculture Office and 25 Learn Smart kits to the Department of Education (DepEd) Schools Division of Borongan City.
“We are honored to assist LGU Borongan City in uplifting the lives of its people through our education and food security programs. Our commitment has always been to contribute to community development not only through our telco services, but also through our shared value programs covering priority sectors of LGUs,” said Hazel Amoyan of the PLDT Enterprise business unit in the Visayas.
The #PlantSmart kit is one of PLDT and Smart’s “sustainable gifting” initiatives, seeking to encourage communities to grow their own food by starting a vegetable garden in their homes. Packed in an environmentally friendly material, each kit contains easy-to-grow vegetable seeds, loam soil, and organic fertilizer.
“The #PlantSmart kits will be distributed to priority households and will be a big help in our efforts to address malnutrition in Borongan City. Rest assured that the seeds of generosity and compassion provided by your company will be sown and nurtured by our LGU and make our collaboration even more fruitful,” said Macario Gabornes, Borongan City Agriculturist.
Meanwhile, the LearnSmart kit is designed to provide connectivity support and additional educational materials to teachers and students, especially those from far-flung communities. Each kit includes a SmartBro LTE Pocket WiFi and a flash drive containing learning aid such as storytelling videos and CVIF Dynamic Learning Program learning activity sheets.
“We want to extend our gratitude to our partners for their unwavering support for the programs of DepEd Borongan City toward arresting learning poverty. Despite the circumstances, let us continue to work together to ensure that learners receive quality basic education as we progress toward learning recovery,” said Josemilo Ruiz, Officer-in-Charge, Assistant Schools Division Superintendent at DepEd Borongan City.
These programs of PLDT and Smart underscore the group’s commitment to help the Philippines achieve UNSDG No. 2 on zero hunger and UNSDG No. 4 on inclusive quality education.
