Malasakit (ESG)

Behind the group of PLDT engineers who have been working tirelessly to bring back communication and connectivity in Eastern Visayas following super typhoon Odette is a leader who values preparedness and ‘malasakit’ (compassion).

Thirty-three-year-old medical student Ariel Abantes never thought he would actually win anything when he joined Smart’s ‘Balik Tuition Promo 2’ in 2021. And when he did, he thought he only won load credits. But what the sophomore student at Our Lady of Fatima University (OLFU) found out later on was that he was actually taking home the 100-thousand-peso grand prize.

Tulong Kapatid, the consortium of companies and foundations under the leadership of Manuel V Pangilinan, strengthened its commitment to support the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). 

Farming, they say, is a huge gamble. With farmers saddled with debt even before they till the soil, they can only hope to literally reap everything they’ve sown. Crop damage is not an option.  

PLDT Inc. offers additional assistance to customers in Visayas and Mindanao who are affected by the repair of facilities damaged by Super Typhoon Odette, and these copper lines’ subsequent migration or upgrade to fiber.

Stephanie V. Orlino, Head of Stakeholder Management at Smart, says the initiative aims to modernize cooperatives.

In celebration of the 2022 National Women’s Month, Smart continued working with women-led organizations to help ensure food security in low-income communities. With the COVID-19 pandemic disrupting the flow of goods from farms to markets, Smart has been advocating home gardening, supporting the evolution of ‘plantitas’ nationwide.

Gabay Guro, the flagship education program of PLDT-Smart Foundation (PSF) under its Gabay Karunungan advocacy, recently turned over the Chery Tiggo Grand Prize to 38-year-old teacher Anafel from Misamis Occidental. A first-time attendee of Gabay Guro’s virtual Grand Gathering last October 2021 which gained more than 500,000 live viewers, Anafel is also the first-ever Grand Gathering winner from Mindanao.

[26 March 2022] As of 8:00 a.m. Philippine Standard Time, PLDT and Smart have activated their quick response teams after the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) raised Alert Level 3 over Taal Volcano. 

At 28, Marianne Cuarto, a former Gabay Guro scholar, is on her way to securing her doctorate degree in Education Management.