MANILA, Philippines - Filipino seafarers now have access to information that will help them save for their future, as well as invest their hard-earned funds into building a home for their family, even while at sea.
Wireless leader Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) has partnered with the Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF), popularly known as the Pag-IBIG Fund, enabling Filipino seafarers to hear and know more about Pag-IBIG’s provident and housing programs, via Smart Link.
The partnership benefits close to 400,000 seafaring Filipinos – who make up about a quarter of the world’s sailors.
Smart Link, the country’s first and only prepaid satellite telecommunication service, provides coverage to seafarers sailing within Asia-Pacific, Indian Ocean, Middle East, Africa, and some parts of Europe and the Mediterranean.
Using the Smart Link satellite phone service deployed across 7,500 maritime vessels all over the world, voice advertisements on the Fund’s membership, savings, short-term loans and housing loan programs will be heard each time Filipino seafarers make a Smart Link call to their friends or loved ones in the Philippines.
“We initiated this service to empower Filipino seafarers with the right information on how they can achieve their dreams of providing their families with a more comfortable life,” said Tina Mariano, head of Smart’s Global Access Group, which offers the Smart Link service.
“When armed with the right info, they can hopefully make the correct decisions involved in building a home for their family, with a lot of help from Pag-IBIG Fund,” Mariano added.
“We are glad to reach out to seafarers through Smart, which, like Pag-IBIG, also has a big heart for OFWs,” shared lawyer Darlene Berberabe, chief executive officer of Pag-IBIG Fund.
“Through our partnership with Smart, we are not only recognizing the vital role of our Filipino modern day heroes, but we are also helping them turly enjoy the fruits of their labor and sacrifice,” added Berberabe.
It has partnerships with the country’s biggest maritime-related companies such as Magsaysay Maritime Corp., NYK-Fil Ship Management, Inc., Philippine Transmarine Carriers, Inc., among others.
For more information on these services, go to www.smart.com.ph.