PLDT Global brings brands together for overseas Filipino market

MANILA, Philippines — PLDT Global is gathering Philippine brands and merchants in Makati this month for a networking event aimed at a market often discussed in remittances and migration figures, but less often as a deliberate commercial audience: Filipinos overseas.

The event, called SYNC CITY '26: Reaching Filipinos Worldwide, is scheduled for May 21, 2026 at Monarch Manila in Makati City, according to PLDT Global’s event page.

The company is positioning the gathering as a venue for businesses that want to reach, sell to or stay visible among Filipinos abroad and their families in the Philippines.

While the pitch is framed around “growth solutions,” the broader opportunity is familiar: millions of Filipinos overseas remain deeply connected to home through money transfers, digital communication, entertainment, shopping, travel, food, family care and other services that depend on cross-border trust.

For brands, that market is not simply overseas. It is also emotional, fragmented and difficult to reach without the right distribution channels.

PLDT Global said the event will feature its suite of services intended to help companies connect with Filipino communities abroad. These include TinBo, described as a digital marketplace for overseas Filipinos and their families; Vortex, a digital distribution platform for product integration and reach expansion; and Digital Ads Management, an advertising service aimed at improving campaign visibility and conversions.

The event will also feature PLDT Global executives, including president and CEO Albert Villa-Real, chief operating officer Edith Gomez-Cudiamat, Head of International Products and Management Paolo Castaneda, International Digital Solutions Head Jules Salonga, and other officials handling marketing and digital solutions.

The challenge for brands is that the overseas Filipino market is not one audience. A worker in the Middle East, a nurse in the United Kingdom, a student in Canada and a second-generation Filipino in the United States may all respond to different needs, platforms and price points.

That makes the event’s business case less about simply “reaching Filipinos worldwide” and more about helping companies understand which Filipino communities abroad they are actually trying to serve.

For PLDT Global, the event also reflects how telecom-linked companies are moving beyond connectivity into marketplaces, advertising, digital payments-adjacent services and customer access.

The event is open to interested brands and merchants, according to the PLDT Global page.