Almost two dozen local organizations and a school have benefitted from the recently concluded donation drive of Muenchen Corporation, in partnership with PLDT’s wireless unit Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart).
This initiative is part of Smart’s continuous mission of enabling communities through technology, particularly in education and agriculture, under the Better World campaign.
Through the “Piso mula sa Puso” effort, Muenchen and its subsidiaries Telepreneur Corp. (TPC) and Hatchiko Corp. were able to raise funds to donate a School-in-a-Bag to Mambungan 2 Elementary School in Antipolo, Rizal and several Learn Smart Kits to students.
They were also able to provide sacks of rice from Smart’s Buy Local campaign to their chosen beneficiaries, such as Hospicio de San Jose, Mayamot-Mambungan Tricycle Operators Drivers Association, Bahay Aruga, among others.
“School-in-a-Bag and Buy Local are just examples of how simple solutions can create a better world for our communities. Together with our corporate partners, we were able to contribute and ensure that no one gets left behind, especially during the pandemic,” said Stephanie Orlino, AVP for Community Relations at Smart.
For 16 years, Muenchen has exclusively distributed Smart prepaid products to cooperatives, organizations, schools, and multi-level marketing companies that are under its wing.
“This bayanihan drive is one of the programs that Smart has so generously offered to us, so that we can help our beneficiaries who are in dire need of food and educational facilities. Bayanihan is an important custom among Filipinos, and we’re grateful that Smart was able to join us in our mission to empower our communities,” said Milagros Lomoljo, Consultant and Member of the Board at Muenchen.
For TPC, the bayanihan campaign is aligned with their group’s advocacy in providing livelihood to Filipinos.
“I am pleased that through this program, we are able to help our farmers and help in the education of Filipino children through loading. This program allows our members to help in their own way,” said Lorenzo Rellosa, TPC President and CEO.
Almost 90,000 student-beneficiaries
The School-in-a-Bag provides access to technology, connectivity, content, and a disaster-resilient pedagogy even for schools in remote areas. Each water-resistant backpack carries a laptop and pocket WiFi for the teacher and 10 tablets for the students, all pre-loaded with interactive, multimedia content accessible even if offline.
By the second half of 2021, Smart and its partners have deployed 351 SIABs nationwide, reaching close to 4,000 teachers and 90,000 students.
To help the Philippines attain the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals, with SDG #4: Quality Education as a key area, education continues to be the flagship CSR program of the PLDT group, with a strong emphasis on digital literacy.
Meanwhile, a Learn Smart Kit comes with a small bag, a pocket WiFi, and a USB with modules and guides to help teachers and students with online learning.
Supporting Filipino farmers
Championing Corporate ‘RICE’ponsibility, the “Buy Local, Buy Smart” initiative enjoins employees of PLDT, Smart, and corporate partners to buy their produce directly from local farmers. Through the program, a sustainability fund for farmers is also established. For every purchase of rice from store.cropital.com, up to Php100 goes to funding their next planting cycle.
By the end of the third quarter of 2021, the campaign had raised over Php 5.7 million in revenues from the sale of more than 97 metric tons of rice, enabling Smart to help more than 4,000 rice farmers in the country. The sustainability fund has grown to Php 200,000 opening up doors for more farmers to avail capital support.
The program is Smart’s contribution to UN SDG #1 of No Poverty, especially for the marginalized farming communities.
