Creating Possibilities: PLDT and Smart enable Unity Digital’s Tower Monitoring Services with IoT

Wazzup Pilipinas!?



PLDT Enterprise, the B2B arm of the country’s largest fully integrated telecommunications provider PLDT, has enabled Unity Digital Infrastructure, a joint venture between Aboitiz InfraCapital and Partners Group, by powering the efficient management and monitoring of its common towers across the country through PLDT’s suite of Internet of Things (IoT) solutions called Internet of Possibilities, or IoP.

This capability will help Unity to save on resources and concentrate on providing better services to its present and future clients composed of telecom service providers, enabling them, in turn, to provide better telecommunications services to Filipinos. Unity builds and operates telecommunication towers and supporting infrastructure across the country to complement the efforts of Mobile Network Operators.

PLDT’s IoP enables Unity’s tools that support real-time updates on their common towers’ health, power usage, and status without having to deploy field agents to physically inspect sites all the time.

Powered by PLDT and its wireless unit Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart), IoP was designed to enable companies to be more efficient through its IoT Platform that monitors IoT SIM cards, which when inserted onto smart devices, can unlock the possibilities of automating workflows, such as easy monitoring of assets through location tracking and remote monitoring.

“This solution by PLDT and Smart enables a new world of possibilities for the tower operations of Unity. It would help us optimize the key aspects of our business processes which will ultimately enhance our services to our clientele,” said Lucky Martinez, Operations and Maintenance Manager of Unity Digital Infrastructure Inc.

“As the largest, fully integrated telco in the country, the PLDT Group is best positioned to help revolutionize our local industries through facilitating an IoT-enabled environment. Our goal is to enable companies to realize the benefits of incorporating the value of automation as part of their digital transformation,” said Nico Alcoseba, FVP and Head of Enterprise Product Management and Marketing, PLDT.

“When clients experience improved operations, they are empowered to visualize the possibilities they can further achieve through the use of technology. PLDT and Smart seek to enable enterprise technologies to help them maximize their productivity and efficiency with the help of our digital solutions such as PLDT-Smart IoP,” said Chet Alviz, VP and Head for Wireless Solutions at Enterprise Product Management and Marketing, PLDT.

“We are grateful for Unity’s trust in our capability to boost their operations by facilitating efficient and effective monitoring of their assets through the PLDT-Smart IoP solution, and we commit our best to fulfill our part in connecting a Smarter Philippines,” Alviz added.

Apart from tower monitoring, PLDT’s IoP also supports other industries such as logistics where one can now easily deploy a virtual fleet of connected vehicles via real-time tracking to ensure that deliveries are on time and in the correct location, and healthcare providers to remotely monitor their healthcare devices to provide better services to patients. Other industries that can benefit from the said platform include agriculture, manufacturing, education, and utilities, among others.

Cover Photo Credit: Unity Digital   

Save the Children Philippines, partners commemorate lifesaving work for and with children; drives agenda to address SDG goal 2 on zero hunger

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Save the Children Philippines held a partners’ day at Sheraton Manila Hotel, the official event venue partner, to recognize the valuable role of its corporate and institutional donors, gift-in-kind donors and media agencies for their commitment in uplifting the lives of Filipino children most impacted by inequality and discrimination – from raising awareness on issues faced by children to generously funding and supporting the programs of Save the Children.

One of the event’s highlights was when guests were served with a small portion of rice and kropek (fish crackling) – a typical meal of the children in Samar. This experience was a glimpse of reality to the 3.4 million Filipino families who experience hunger.

“Hunger is depriving a generation of Filipino children of their rights and heavily impacts their growth and development. The role of the private sector and corporate partners, as well as institutional donors, is ever expanding. Your support and active participation are crucial in accelerating progress for children and creating a lasting change in their lives,” said Atty. Albert Muyot, Save the Children Philippines CEO.

In 2021, Save the Children Philippines was able to reach 4.4 million individuals, including children, through its health and nutrition, education, protection, and humanitarian work in 15 regions in the Philippines.

“Save the Children cannot do it alone. The government, civil society groups and NGOs, communities, children and their families, and of course, the private sector including your respective companies, - need to work together to put an end to child hunger in the Philippines. We need a whole -of -nation approach,” Ms. Universe Charity Pauline Amelinckx.

Mars-Wrigley Foundation, Cargill, and Sony Corporation were awarded with the Grant Funding Merit for providing support that enabled Save the Children to conceptualize and implement longer term projects from start to completion.

Corporate Fundraisers, Marriott Worldwide Business Councils Philippines, Real Asset Management, and Atlassian were granted with the Corporate Fundraiser Merit for funding and supporting Save the Children Philippines’ health, education, protection, and humanitarian work.

The Campaign Merit Award was awarded to Micro Focus, Axa Asia & Africa, and Johnson & Johnson (Philippines) Inc., for providing creative resources to the organization to effectively raise awareness in campaigns such as #SavetheChildrenfromHunger.

QBE Foundation, Shein, and Prudence Foundation were granted the Emergency Response Merit award for assisting in Super Typhoon Odette Response in Bohol, Southern Leyte, Dinagat Islands, and Surigao del Norte.

Netsuite, Johnson & Johnson (Philippines) Inc., and Robinsons Handyman Inc., provided essential and strategic resources for Save the Children Philippines’ programs allowing the organization to increase its support to affected children and their families.

GMA Network, Business Mirror, and ABS-CBN were awarded with Media Merit for their important work in raising public awareness on the issues, challenges, and situation of Filipino children and their families.

“Because of your unwavering support we have a new generation of children who are better prepared to meet present and future challenges,” said Mike Novell, Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of Save the Children Philippines.



The event showcased an interactive exhibit of products and services of Save the Children and its partners. Actor Adrian Lindayag graced the event with a special performance.

PELÍCULA Spanish Film Festival will celebrate its 21st edition by returning to the big screens in Manila, Malaysia and Australia

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From October 5 to 16, 2022, the 21st edition of PELÍCULA-Spanish Film Festival will return to face-to-face screenings. After two years of having a virtual festival, PELÍCULA will screen around twenty movies in three venues of Metro-Manila -–Shangri-La Plaza, Cine Adarna at UP Diliman, and Instituto Cervantes Intramuros branch.

Since its creation in 2002 by Instituto Cervantes de Manila, PELíCULA has been an annual attraction in Philippine theatres. After the Covid-19 crisis, which forced cinemas to close worldwide and caused audiences of PELíCULA to migrate online, the festival returns to the big screen, on a first-come, first-served free admission basis. Furthermore, the Festival will also host face-to-face online screenings in Malaysia and Australia.

In the Philippines, the Festival will open on October 5 with El buen patrón (Fernando León de Aranoa, 2021), a comedy starring Javier Bardem. Other comedies in the line-up include El test (Dani de la Orden, 2022), Con quién viajas (Martín Cuervo, 2021). The official entries also include documentaries such as A las mujeres de España. María Lejárraga (Laura Hojman, 2022), dramas such as Maixabel (Icíar Bollaín, 2021) or El olvido que seremos (Fernando Trueba, 2020), and thrillers like La hija (Manuel Martín Cuenca, 2021).

PELÍCULA will also feature Latin American films such as the Colombian documentary Jinetes del Paraíso (Talia Osorio Cardona, 2020), the Panamenian comedy Algo azul (Mariel García Spooner, 2021), and Competencia oficial, a Spanish-Argentinean comedy directed in 2021 by Gastón Duprat and Mariano Cohn, and featuring Penélope Cruz, Antonio Banderas, and Oscar Martínez.

To celebrate the 21st edition of the cinematographic showcase, there will be a special selection of clasic Spanish films. These films are Esa pareja feliz (Juan Antonio Bardem & Luis García Berlanga, 1951), Muerte de un ciclista (Juan Antonio Bardem, 1953), Mamá cumple cien años (Carlos Saura, 1979) and El sur (Víctor Erice, 1983).

PELíCULA 2022 is an initiative of Instituto Cervantes in Manila and Sydney, the Embassies of Spain in the Philippines, Malaysia and Australia, and the AECID, in collaboration with the Film Development Council of the Philippines, ICAA, the Embassy of Colombia in the Philippines, the Embassy of Panama in the Philippines, the UP Film Institute, the University of the Philippines and Intramuros Administration.

All the movies are in Spanish (or their original language) with English subtitles. For updates on the Festival, please visit the Facebook page of Instituto Cervantes: www.facebook.com/InstitutoCervantesManila.