THE PLDT is playing a major role in helping the national government confront the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
PLDT-Smart recently announced it is providing free access for all Smart, TNT and SUN subscribers to the “ReliefAgad” app (www.reliefagad.ph) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to enable beneficiaries of the government’s social amelioration program to process easily the registration and receive financial assistance electronically.
Launched last May 24 by the DSWD and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), ReliefAgad,” is an app that facilitates automated cash aid distribution of the government’s social amelioration program (SAP) which aids families affected by the lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The app was developed to address challenges in updating beneficiary data and information as well as to accelerate the distribution of disbursements to beneficiaries. The “ReliefAgad” app makes the cash relief distribution faster through e-wallets such as PayMaya, and may be accessed by families who have already received their social amelioration card (SAC).
DSWD partnered with USAID’s E-Peso Project and Developers Connect Philippines (DevCon) for the Relief Agad project where a segment of the beneficiaries may self-enroll through an online form.
“We encourage qualified beneficiaries to register to ReliefAgad app and link their mobile numbers so they can receive their financial assistance faster via digital means,” Alfredo S. Panlilio, Smart President and CEO and PLDT Chief Revenue Officer, said in a statement.
In the same statement, Jovy Hernandez, ePLDT President and CEO and SVP and head for PLDT and Smart Enterprise Business Groups, added: “We are committed to assisting the DSWD in promoting electronic registrations to the Relief Agad app for more efficient distribution of the second tranche of cash relief through contactless transactions.”
Once they register, citizen beneficiaries can link their mobile numbers and choose their preferred means to receive their financial assistance. Options include eWallets such as PayMaya.
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Hernandez said PLDT and Smart have continued to introduce solutions that aim to streamline operations and enable customers with the means to stay connected—whether it be for personal or professional reasons.
As the only Filipino company that is a member to the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA), he pointed out that PLDT-Smart underscored its commitment to enable a greater majority with access to public Wi-Fi in this year’s recent celebration of #WorldWiFiDay last June 20. Moreover, initiatives to power Covid-19 facilities and key offices also fall in line with the WBA’s call for members to ensure the deployment of public Wi-Fi for the underserved and unconnected.
“Since its launch, our Smart WiFi service has always been a tool that was designed to connect, inform and educate users. We are grateful to both customers that have trusted us with deploying the service to their sites, as well as the WBA which has given even more purpose to our mission,” Hernandez said. “#WorldWiFiDay was created with the aim of allowing participants of both the public and private sectors to recognize the role of Wi-Fi in bridging a digital divide. Such thrust could not be any more apt than it is today,” said Tiago Rodrigues, CEO of the WBA, in a press statement.
In another development, PLDT Enterprise recently provided mobile connectivity solutions to food delivery service Foodpanda to ease their riders’ daily operations. This collaboration gave birth to the Smart Ka-Panda Postpaid plan, which is a foodpanda exclusive mobile bundle that provides riders the ability to make use of their delivery app, Roadrunner, as well as other navigational applications. The program was created to bridge the gap between the riders and customers.
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