The PLDT Group has activated free call services to help Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) stay connected with their families as tensions escalate in the Middle East.
PLDT chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said he directed PLDT and its wireless unit Smart Communications to provide free calls for Filipinos in countries affected by the conflict, citing concern for the more than two million Filipinos living and working in the region.
“Worrying about our OFWs,” Pangilinan said in a post on X, adding that the “marching order is to make it as easy as possible for our countrymen to reach their loved ones, and vice versa.”
PLDT said Filipinos in Iran, Israel, Iraq, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia can make free calls to the Philippines through the TinBo app using a Smart Virtual Number.
PLDT, Smart and TNT subscribers in the Philippines may also place free calls to loved ones in the same countries. The offer runs until March 7, with the company set to monitor whether an extension will be necessary.
Filipinos may also call the Smart crisis hotline at +63288457799, which is available 24/7 and free of charge, to connect with their families.
In addition, the company said callers can reach the 1348 hotline of the Department of Migrant Workers and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration through the TinBo app.
PLDT said further details will be posted on its official social media accounts.
