More than 100 farmers, fisherfolk, and small business owners across Laguna have completed digital entrepreneurship training under the Digital-PINAS initiative, gaining practical skills to help them market their products online and grow their businesses in the digital economy.
Digital-PINAS, formally known as the Joint Programme on Inclusive, Competitive, and Responsible Digital Philippines, brings community-based training workshops to local micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The initiative is led by the International Trade Centre (ITC), with PLDT and Smart serving as its sole telecommunications partner through the group’s #KonektedforLivelihoods program.
Building practical digital skills
Workshops were held in Santa Cruz, Pila, Victoria, and Los Baños, where PLDT and Smart representatives conducted sessions on smartphone photography and cybersecurity awareness.
The training focused on helping participants present their products more effectively on digital platforms while equipping them with the knowledge to recognize and avoid online scams. To support the workshops, PLDT and Smart also provided Smart Prepaid Pocket WiFi units and prepaid load cards.
According to Lorna Bondoc, lead ITC digital expert for Digital-PINAS, meaningful digital transformation begins by helping small entrepreneurs see how accessible technologies can improve their livelihoods.
“True digital transformation in the countryside isn’t about giving small business owners complicated software they don’t need. It is about taking the fear out of technology and showing a farmer or a local food vendor that a smartphone can be a powerful tool to protect their daily harvest, reach new buyers, and secure their family’s income right from their farms or kitchen tables,” Bondoc said.
She added that reliable internet connectivity remains essential in bringing digital opportunities to underserved communities and acknowledged PLDT and Smart’s role in supporting connectivity during Digital-PINAS training sessions.
Empowering entrepreneurs through connectivity
Stephanie V. Orlino, assistant vice president and head of stakeholder engagement at PLDT and Smart, said the partnership reflects the PLDT Group’s commitment to making digital opportunities more inclusive.
“Our participation in Digital-PINAS reflects the PLDT Group’s broader commitment to inclusive growth, particularly for communities that have long faced barriers to entry in the digital economy. But our role goes beyond connectivity, because these sessions are meant to give the participants both the skills and the confidence to compete as digital entrepreneurs,” Orlino said.
Local communities apply new skills
Participants across Laguna immediately applied what they learned during the workshops.
In Santa Cruz, members of the Coalition Alliance of Farmers in Santa Cruz, Laguna (CAFSCL) used logo creation and smartphone photography lessons to begin building their online presence.
“From being ‘just farmers’, our members can now become farmer-entrepreneurs,” said Queen Anino, secretary of CAFSCL.
In Pila, 40 farmer-MSMEs and local entrepreneurs, including members of the Pila Laguna Agriculture Cooperative, practiced product photography using their own goods.
Women entrepreneurs in Victoria, including Jennifer Soria of Momshie Jen’s Bites and Filominas Espiritu of Pinky’s Pasalubong, also learned techniques to improve the presentation of their products on social media.
Meanwhile, cooperative leaders from the Municipal Cooperative Development Council and partner organizations in Los Baños participated in practical product photography sessions.
“This is excellent training for entrepreneurs like us,” said Rafael J. Jumawid, vice chairman of the Municipal Cooperative Development Council.
Supporting inclusive digital entrepreneurship
Through its #KonektedforLivelihoods initiative, the PLDT Group continues to collaborate with organizations such as the International Trade Centre to expand digital entrepreneurship opportunities for MSMEs across the country.
Digital-PINAS is funded by the UN Sustainable Development Goals Fund with contributions from the European Union and is implemented by the International Trade Centre (ITC), the International Labour Organization (ILO), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in partnership with key Philippine government agencies led by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).
In Summary
Digital-PINAS is helping bridge the digital divide by combining connectivity, practical digital skills, and entrepreneurship training for grassroots communities. Through its partnership with PLDT and Smart, the initiative is enabling farmers, fisherfolk, and small business owners to leverage technology to expand their livelihoods and participate more fully in the country’s growing digital econom