PLDT Global, the international operating arm of PLDT and Smart Communications Inc., has teamed up with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) to launch a helpline program that offers free call services to overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
Helpline 1348, accessed via PLDT Global’s Tindahan ni Bossing (TINBO) electronic marketplace platform, enables OFWs to more easily reach and connect with OWWA to avail of assistance on OFW-related concerns such as employment contracts, repatriation, benefits, and other services.
TINBO integrated the helpline to enable online or web-based calls. TINBO users need to log on their accounts and click the Smart Virtual Number (SVN) to access the helpline button.
PLDT Global President and CEO Albert V. Villa-Real said the new service is part of the company's thrust to uplift the lives of OFWs.
“This shows that our Pusong TINBO and malasakit extend beyond borders. This is also one of the many ways that we can boost government initiatives to make services more accessible through digital platforms,” he remarked.
OWWA Administrator Arnell Ignacio affirmed the agency's commitment to serving OFWs through its partnership with the telco.
“By providing our OFWs with a convenient channel to connect to the OWWA Helpline 1348 free of charge, they can be assured that help in any form can come to them at their most trying times,” he said.
In a press conference on Thursday, Jan. 18, Ignacio said their agency has around 26 individuals who handle calls for the 24/7 service. He added that the Department of Information, Communication, and Technology (DICT) has also approved OWWA's budget for expansion of their IT services.
Aside from the helpline, PLDT Global said it will give additional benefits to OFWs in collaboration with OWWA such as giving out Pusong TINBO Kits that contain informational materials such as government agency and embassy numbers and locations of Filipino stores in their destination countries, and providing free local SIM cards to OFWs for their countries’ of deployment.
TINBO is the e-marketplace platform catering to OFWs wherein Filipinos abroad can buy load, send vouchers and gifts for families in the Philippines, as well as pay bills for Philippine utilities and access e-wallets and e-banks such as Maya by acquiring their SVN through the platform.