Smart provides phones, SIM cards to PGH, AFP

MANILA, Philippines — PLDT wireless arm Smart Communications Inc. has extended communications assistance to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) as part of its continuous support for COVID-19 frontliners.

Smart is donating Smart and TNT SIMs and load cards to more than 1,000 AFP personnel deployed across Metro Manila.

This is to provide for their connectivity needs during the enhanced community quarantine, the company said.

Smart has also donated smartphones and load to support the PGH’s newly opened COVID-19 ward, as well as to the Northern Mindanao Medical Center, the designated COVID-19 hospital in Cagayan de Oro. 

“With these, frontliners in charge of COVID-19 patients, as well as AFP personnel manning checkpoints across Metro Manila and those stationed at their Camp Aguinaldo headquarters can stay connected via calls, text and mobile data,” Smart said.

PLDT and Smart have earlier supported the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the AFP with free WiFi.

LTE pocket WiFi units were supplied for the buses deployed by DOTr, while WiFi kits were given to the AFP to augment the unit’s command and control requirements.

Smart has also donated e-load to the Department of Health (DOH) personnel, as well as smartphones with Smart SIMs and one month free unlimited calls and text plus data allocation for the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine’s emergency communication hub.

PLDT and Smart have also developed COVID-19 emergency hotlines in partnership with the DOH and the Department of Interior and Local Government for Filipinos seeking consultation and forwarding concerns about the disease.