PLDT and Smart expanded livelihood opportunities for persons with disabilities in Quezon City. The PLDT Group, in partnership with ATRIEV, Quezon City Persons with Disability Affairs Office, and NORFIL Foundation, upskilled 21 persons with disabilities and parents of persons with disabilities through the Digital Business Basics Training (DBBT) module.
The free eight-day course helped participants start their own businesses or scale up existing enterprises. It included sessions on basic social media marketing, capital sourcing, product pricing and costing, branding and identifying target market, content creation and financial literacy.
To help participants explore digital payment solutions, the module also introduced them to Maya, the Philippines’ top digital bank and omni-channel payments processor.
Since 2017, PLDT and Smart have been promoting digital inclusion of underserved communities, through the upskilling of senior citizens, farmers and fisherfolk, indigenous peoples, persons deprived of liberty and persons with disabilities.
Through IDEATe, PLDT and Smart aim to help the Philippines attain UNSDG 1 on No Poverty, SDG 8 on Decent Work and Economic Growth and UNSDG 10 on Reduced Inequalities by empowering and promoting the social, economic and political inclusion of all, including persons with disabilities.