PLDT Inc. and its wireless arm Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) have partnered with the local government of Cebu City and Lapu-Lapu City, and Passerelles numériques Philippines (PNPh) in upskilling over 200 senior citizens on basic smartphone usage, internet safety, and mental health awareness. 

“We see these training sessions as a way to include and empower our senior citizens in knowing how to navigate the path toward modernization. At PLDT and Smart, we do not only seek to continuously innovate our services, but we also work to guide our senior citizens, who are among our most vulnerable customers. This is also one of our ways to ensure that no one gets left behind in an increasingly digital world,” said Marylou Gocotano, PLDT and Smart Stakeholder Management Visayas Relations Head. 

Further, over 100 student-scholars from PNPh have participated in the training to guide senior participants on digital literacy, covering topics on basic parts of smartphones, social media applications, surfing the internet through search engines, cybersecurity, and identity theft.  

“Thank you PLDT and Smart for organizing this initiative for our senior citizens in Lapu-Lapu City. We are lucky that we are not the only ones caring for our senior citizens, but we also have private institutions like PLDT, Smart, and PNPh that have programs that will enable them to adapt and make use of digital technologies today,” said Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Junard “Ahong” Chan. 

“Our senior citizens have already adjusted to the modern world and teaching them how to use modern devices such as smartphones will prevent them from being easily scammed. Thank you PLDT, Smart, and PNPh for partnering with Cebu City LGU for such a wonderful advocacy,” said Atty. Paolo Manit, Office of Senior Citizen Affairs (OSCA), Cebu City. 

This initiative to equip seniors with digital literacy and internet safety training to improve their quality of life, and to underscore the importance of mental health in today’s digital age through its Better Today PH platform, are aligned with the group’s digital inclusion and digital wellness thrusts.  

It also helps underscore the PLDT Group’s commitment to assist in the government’s key digitalization efforts. The PLDT Group is a founding member of the Digital Infrastructure pillar of the presidential Private Sector Advisory Council or PSAC.

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