[9 November 2020] – The companies and foundations under the leadership of Manuel V Pangilinan recently reached out to communities and survivors of Typhoon Rolly (international name: Goni) by providing immediate relief assistance.
“We have mobilized the Group’s Foundations to do relief and medical work in the wake of Typhoon Rolly. Our restoration teams are in place and have started doing remediation work already. We will fix this,” Pangilinan said.
“Our Alagang Kapatid (TV5) teams are in Quezon and Camarines already. Teams will also be sent to Albay and Marinduque. Immediate relief assistance on behalf of our Group Foundations is given to areas severely affected by the typhoon,” Pangilinan added.
Communication as aid
PLDT and Smart engineers have been working round the clock to ensure that telco services are being restored in typhoon-stricken areas. PLDT and Smart were the first companies to restore telco services in Catanduanes.
The companies also continue to bring communication as aid in provinces hit hard by Typhoon Rolly. These include the deployment of satellite phones with sim card, libreng tawag and libreng charging stations in Albay, Camarines Sur and Camarines Norte.
Other areas where communication as aid were provided include Aurora, Bataan Batangas, Bulacan, Marinduque, Pampanga, Sorsogon, Tarlac, Zambales.
The Alagang Kapatid Foundation, Inc. (AKFI) also provided libreng charging to residents who have been without electricity/have limited cellphone access using Meralco’s generator set.
To allow affected residents to keep their mobile devices powered and contact their loved ones, One Meralco Foundation (OMF), the corporate foundation of Meralco, deployed its solar-powered mobile charging station in areas that are experiencing power interruptions.
Immediate relief response
The PLDT-Smart Foundation (PSF) and Smart Sales Team provided over 5,000 relief packs to families and communities in the Bicol region and Marinduque. Through the regional sales team, relief assistance was immediately mobilized to areas severely affected by the typhoon.
“Ang buong Pamahalaang Panlalawigan ng Marinduque ay lubos na nagpapasalamat sa PLDT at Smart sa kanilang hatid na tulong. Ang inyo pong donasyon ay malaking karagdagan sa ating kasalukuyan na alokasyon ng pagkain na pinamamahagi na sa mga bayan. Muli po, maraming salamat sa inyong tulong (The Provincial Government of Marinduque is extremely grateful to PLDT and Smart for the help that they provided. Your donation is a big contribution to our current allocation of food and resources, which we are distributing to the different areas in Marinduque. Once again, thank you for all your help),” said Governor Presby Velasco from the Province of Marinduque.
Meralco also donated 1,000 cavans of rice in Marinduque to be distributed to at least 10,000 families, and OMF turned over care packages to a thousand more.
Braving the storms, the AKFI and TV5 News Team, provided 1,000 relief packs from the PSF in the typhoon-hit Bicol region in Lopez and Guinayangan, Quezon; Libmanan and Baao, Camarines Sur; and Guinobatan, Libon and Camalig, Albay.
PLDT provided relief packs to 280 families in Albay and Quezon. PLDT also turned over 300 blankets, 500 boxes of facemasks and 500 faceshields to affected areas in Albay and Marinduque. The distributions were done through AKFI.
PLDT, in partnership with the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), also prepared 551 relief packs to be distributed to families in other areas in Albay and Camarines Sur.
OMF provided care packages to 200 families in Camalig, Albay and Guinayangan, Quezon, who were severely affected by the typhoon.
Meanwhile, Maynilad turned over 4,000 bottles of water to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for typhoon Rolly survivors in Catanduanes.
