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| Rice farmers benefitting from PLDT and Smart Communications' "Buy Local, Buy Smart" initiative (Image Source: Smart Communications) |
Digital services provider PLDT and wireless subsidiary Smart Communications Inc. (Smart) spearheaded the sale of over Php800,000 worth of rice to directly benefit local farmers during the holiday run of its "Buy Local, Buy Smart" program. NCR-based employees of the said companies under the leadership of Philippine business tycoon Manuel V. Pangilinan purchased 600 rice orders throughout the corporate "RICEponsibility" program's November-December 2020 run alongside those from MERALCO, ePLDT, Metro Pacific Investments Corporation and Light Rail Manila Corporation. These orders were ordered online in partnership with social agri-enterprise and e-commerce platform Cropital from farming communities in North and Central Luzon.
Aside from generating sales, the initiative raised proceeds of over Php145,000 for a sustainability fund. The donation will support the needs of a farming community in Pangasinan for the next cropping season. This follows the wrath and strength of back-to-back typhoons in the last quarter of 2020 that severely affected the agricultural industry. Furthermore, a "Buy One, Give One" promo allowed patrons to automatically donate a sack of rice for every sack they have purchased. The initiative was part of MVP Group's #TuloyPaRinAngPasko campaign, a call to bring the joy of the yuletide season to storm-hit communities including 286 Dumagat families in Rizal who are also partners in PLDT-Smart's reforestation efforts in the Marikina Watershed.
The "Buy Local, Buy Smart" initiative is an offshoot of Smart's Digital Farmers Program (DFP). In partnership with the Department Of Agriculture's Agricultural Training Institute (DA-ATI), DFP seeks to empower Filipino farmers by providing access to digital tools and technologies that can help boost productivity and marketability. During its pilot run in 2019, the campaign got PLDT and Smart employees buying rice directly from small-scale farmers in the fourth-class municipality of Magdalena, Laguna, with orders delivered directly to the companies' head offices in Makati. The initial leg generated sales of Php325,000 from over 5,400 kilograms of rice purchased.
Take part in PLDT-Smart's "Buy Local, Buy Smart" campaign by visiting store.cropital.com and using the coupon code "pldtbuylocal" and "smartbuylocal" upon checkout to get a discount of up to Php100 per order.
