A Mother's Day message from afar: How PLDT turns digital gestures into real bonds

For many families, Mother's Day is a day of reunion. For others - particularly for millions of Filipinos living and working abroad - it is a reminder of the love that endures across oceans and time zones.

This May, PLDT Global has delivered a quiet yet stirring campaign that placed mothers - especially those separated from their children by work or distance - at the heart of its message. The centrepiece was a touching short film, released through PLDT Global's digital platform Tindahan ni Bossing (TinBo), showing the emotional weight of separation between an overseas worker and her mother.

The video, which resonated with the diaspora and secured 1.7 million views on YouTube, served as more than a tearjerker. It was a clear statement on the realities of migrant life - particularly for the many Filipino women who leave their own families behind to support them.

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"Many of our OFWs are women - mothers and daughters who make the ultimate sacrifice of being away from their families to provide a better life," said Albert V. Villa-Real, president and CEO of PLDT Global, in a release. "We honour and celebrate their immeasurable contributions to their loved ones and to our country."

In a move both practical and sentimental, TinBo offered free digital greeting cards for users making Mother's Day purchases through the app, alongside e-voucher discounts for subscribers abroad. Simple gestures, perhaps, but ones that brought a tangible expression of affection to the families left at home.

Offline, the message extended to the airport lounges of Manila. Partnering with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, TinBo hosted Araw ng Alaga kay Nanay, a Mother's Day event where care kits and sweets were distributed to 300 OFW mothers. For many, it was a moment to be seen.

While the Mother's Day campaign captured emotional headlines, it also quietly demonstrated the evolving role of TinBo as a service platform for the overseas Filipino community.

Launched by PLDT Global, TinBo is no longer just a place to buy mobile top-ups. In the last year, it has expanded to include online shopping vouchers, digital health services through mWell, gaming credits, bills payment, and virtual Smart numbers for secure banking logins in the Philippines. In regions such as the Middle East, where millions of Filipino workers are based, TinBo is becoming an essential bridge - not only between individuals and their families, but between overseas lives and home responsibilities.

The platform has also been recognised for its innovation, receiving the "Most Innovative Health App for OFWs" by the Gawad Galing Global Awards, thanks to its partnership with mWell.

These strategic expansions are more than just business decisions. They form part of a wider narrative: that staying connected means more than just messaging apps. It's about giving families the tools to participate in everyday life - be it through sending money, paying the electricity bill, or simply reminding your mum, from thousands of kilometres away, that you're thinking of her.

As Villa-Real put it, "Through these initiatives, we hope to enable our OFWs to become more involved in the everyday activities and financial decisions of their families, whether big or small."

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