Sunday, October 2, 2016

PLDT Gabay Guro celebrates TeacherFest 2016, the biggest tribute for teachers to date!

Almost 20,000 teachers from public and private schools nationwide assembled at the Mall of Asia Arena for PLDT Gabay Guro’s 9th Grand Gathering, also known as TeacherFest. Since its establishment in 2007, PLDT Gabay Guro (2G) has been able to grant over 1,100 scholarships in various state colleges and universities nationwide; train over 16,000 teachers; donate laptops and computers to schools and foundations and build over 40 classrooms located in Cebu, Bohol, Leyte and Capiz.

As the educational arm and flagship project of the PLDT-Smart Foundation, PLDT Gabay Guro (2G) focuses on upholding the vocation of teachers. Its tagline “building the nation one teacher at a time” highlights the valuable role of teachers in leading their students to the future and shaping the next generation of nation builders. With the highly anticipated TeacherFest, 2G culminated its 9th year of trainings, scholarships and livelihood programs for the teacher beneficiaries, right in time for Teachers’ Month.

Like previous years, the 9th PLDT Gabay Guro TeacherFest honored the teachers’ hard work, dedication and impact on society with a day filled with their favorite celebrities, world-class performances and exciting, life-changing prizes. The event was graced by no less than Vina Morales, Pops Fernandez, MJ Lastimosa, Sam Concepcion, Michael Pangilinan, Jona Viray, Gary and Gab Valenciano, Martin Nievera, Ogie Alcasid, Regine Velasquez, Lea Salonga, Pia Wurtzbach and more. On top of being star-studded, the celebration was glittered with amazing raffle prizes ranging from cash and trips to local and international destinations to the coveted Foton van and house-and-lot grand raffle from Perry’s group of companies.

“Each year, we look forward to this event which is our way of rewarding teachers for their valuable presence in our lives, and their selfless work which is recognized and appreciated,” PLDT Gabay Guro Chairman Chaye Cabal-Revilla said. “With this year’s TeacherFest, we are honoring nine years of our commitment to helping teachers change lives.”

“By treating our teachers to world-class entertainment and surprises, we pay tribute to them and give them a break from their daily challenges in the biggest way possible,” PLDT VP and Home Marketing Director Gary Dujali added. “We look forward to giving them more wonderful, memorable days as well as our full support as they continue their mission of shaping our country’s future leaders.”

This year’s event is made possible through the help of the following partners: Perry’s Group of Companies, Foton, Intel, Devant, Honda and Suzuki for the motorcyles, PR Savings Bank and Manila teachers for the tricycles, Penshoppe, National Bookstore, Enchanted Kingdom, Splash, Tempra, Flanax, Bonamine, Vivalyte, Betadine, Gardenia, Bic, Art Attack, Microsoft, Smart, TNT, Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar, First United Travel Agency, myPhone, Star Mobile, PECCI, PWC, Red Cross, SGV, The Flower Collection, San Marino Corned Tuna, Philippine Star and 51 Talk. For more information, visit gabayguro.com, like the PLDT Gabay Guro Facebook page and follow @PLDTGabayGuro on Twitter and Instagram.



The 9th PLDT Gabay Guro Grand Gathering was glittered with world-class entertainment and exciting, life-changing prizes headlined by the coveted Foton van and house-and-lot grand raffle from Perry’s Group of Companies. In photo are (L-R): Celebrity hosts MJ Lastimosa, Pops Fernandez and Andrew Wolff; Perry’s Group of Companies’ Finina and Barry Tugade; PLDT Gabay Guro Chairman Chaye Cabal-Revilla; Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach; house-and-lot winner Chita Mejia of Carlos L. Albert High School Quezon City; Smart HR Head Gina Ordonez; PLDT-Smart Foundation President Esther Santos; PDRF President Butch Meily; SGV Partner Ramon Dizon and PLDT Clarktel President Boy Castaneda.



World-class performers came together in one stage. (L-R): Multi-talented music icon Jaya, concert king Martin Nievera, Asia’s Songbird Regine Velasquez and the one and only OPM President Ogie Alcasid.



Miss Universe 2015 and Philippines’ pride Pia Wurtzbach graced the stage with her achievement walk and an inspiring message for the teachers.


Internationally-acclaimed music artist Lea Salonga delivered yet another phenomenal stage act.






The future of the Filipino home is here

PLDT Home unveils Smart Home in partnership with global heavyweights

Manila, Philippines (September 26, 2016) – Leading telco and digital services provider PLDT through its consumer business unit PLDT HOME is bringing the Smart Home suite of services to Filipino families with a string of partnerships with leaders in retail and entertainment. 

“This is a new era in digital as we make Filipino homes stronger, safer, more comfortable and more enjoyable via PLDT’s Smart Home which has powerful connectivity and an integrated suite of innovative, reliable and family-friendly products and services,” PLDT FVP and Head of Home Operations Oscar A. Reyes Jr. said. “This is made possible with several local and global partnerships that we entered into recently which are aimed at enhancing and enriching the lives of millions of digitally connected Filipinos powered by PLDT Home and Smart Communications for mobile services.”

New world-class partners

As an industry leader in the Philippines, PLDT HOME continuously pursues strategic and global partnerships to stay ahead of the game. Today, the company also announced key alliances with new partners including U.S.-leading video streaming platform from Roku Inc. for Internet TV; global internet television network Netflix for an extensive library of award-winning TV and movie titles; e-commerce giant Amazon for online shopping; and iWant TV, the leading player in the over-the-top (OTT) content platform in the Philippines.

The partnership with Amazon will soon open the door for Filipino book lovers to enjoy the popular Kindle e-book reader.

The Roku streaming platform allows users to easily stream their favorite TV shows and movies on their TV screens. It is the streaming platform with the highest engagement in the U.S. because of its diverse content offerings and user-friendly interface. Notably, Roku’s partnership with PLDT is its first streaming deal in Asia, making the Philippines the first country in the region to join the ranks of Roku’s international markets including Canada, Mexico, Europe and Australia. Roku services will be launched commercially in the country early next year.



iWant TV lets users stream their favorite ABS-CBN shows, both past and presently airing. Popular teleseryes like On The Wings of Love, Dolce Amore, Ang Probinsiyano and Till I Met You are easily accessible on-demand so avid followers can catch up on the latest plot twists and turns. News and current affairs shows are also available for streaming.  

With Netflix, users can watch today’s top original Netflix series such as House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, Marvel’s Daredevil and Stranger Things. Netflix continually adds new TV programs and films to the service, bringing the joy of entertainment to over 81 million members in 190 countries.  Depending on the subscription plans, members can create up to four profiles within a single Netflix account. Profiles allow different members of the household to have their own personalized Netflix experience built around the films and TV programs they enjoy. There are also parental control settings to ensure a safe-viewing experience for kids. This will limit a child’s profiles to a variety of child-friendly titles they can enjoy.

Pillars of the home

“PLDT’s Smart Home is a home where digital innovations advance the security, safety, convenience and entertainment experiences at home and beyond. It is a home where communication and connection are made easier by digital technology,” Reyes pointed out.

PLDT’s Smart Home is built on these key pillars: connectivity, peace of mind, entertainment, and convergence and automation.

The connectivity that binds the Smart Home is enabled by the country’s most powerful broadband, PLDT Home Fibr, which delivers the Philippines’ first and fastest Internet of up to 1 Gbps. This allows for high-speed browsing of multiple websites and the country’s first symmetrical speed service which provides equal upload and download speeds.

Peace of mind is a commitment to parents manifested through PLDT Home’s products and services designed to help parents feel more secure about the safety of their children especially when they have to be away. These products and services include the home monitoring system Fam Cam; the multi-functional kid-friendly gadget Smart Watch; and the cyber safety solution Family Zone, all best used with the Telpad.




When it comes to world-class entertainment, PLDT HOME has always been at the forefront of providing subscribers with diverse and compelling content—from well-loved kid-friendly content like games and e-books (Disney through Telpad) and  sports (Fox Sports, NBA Premium HD via Cignal) to gaming (Steam) and video-on-demand (iflix). Subscribers also enjoy the benefits of compact access to information and entertainment through the most powerful PC in a stick—the TVolution Stick. Adding to this entertainment suite are the partnerships with Netflix, iWantTV and Roku.

Finally, PLDT HOME has pioneered the convergence of wired and wireless connections through the data sharing feature which allows subscribers to seamlessly share data to pre-connected mobile accounts with leading wireless service provider Smart Communications, thus revolutionizing the way families share and enjoy their high-speed connection.

Home of the future

“PLDT’s Smart Home evolved from our pioneering concept of the Connected Home,” Reyes said. “The connected home was our vision of the modern Filipino home wherein families are connected, entertained and secured with the help of digital innovations powered by PLDT HOME. It was the starting point of our journey. In response to the fast-changing digital needs of Filipino families, we are fortifying that vision with the launch of PLDT’s Smart Home. It is a more integrated version of the connected home, where each product or service interacts with each other to perform harmonized tasks meant to ease and enrich the lives of our subscribers. It’s a Home that cares; it listens, protects, interacts and simplifies our lives.

He furthered, “We don’t want to wait for the future to dictate the trends and the innovations. We are charting our own course and shaping the future through innovative use of technology, global partnerships, world-class content and a keen awareness of and commitment to our subscribers needs. Today is the beginning of the digitally connected and empowered home that we are building for Filipino families.”

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