RENEWED PARTNERSHIP. CDC President and CEO Manuel R. Gaerlan (3rd from left) meets with PLDT Chairman and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan (4th from left) at the latter’s office in Makati. The PLDT is one of the most important partners in Clark’s vision of becoming a modern aerotropolis, smart city and destination of choice for MICE and tourism. CDC sees the strengthening of partnership will lead to improving and future-proofing the service standards in the zone. Also present during the event are (5th to 8th from left): Alfredo S. Panlilio, EVP and Chief Revenue Officer of PLDT; Jovy I. Hernandez, SVP and Group Head Enterprise Business, PLDT and Smart; Chito M. Franco, CEO of PLDT ClarkTel, and Victor Y. Tria, First Vice President and Head of PLDT ALPHA Enterprise. Also, in the meeting are Atty. Michael T. Toledo (leftmost), Government Relations and Public Affairs Head of Metro Pacific Investments and Dennis Legaspi (2nd from left), CDC Chief of Staff. (A. Gaerlan/CDC)
CLARK FREEPORT – This Freeport moves another step closer to becoming a smart city, a premier aerotropolis and a preferred tourism destination as it strengthens partnership with one of the leading telecom, service and utility providers in the region.
Setting sights on improved systems and service standards here, Clark Development Corporation (CDC) President and CEO Manuel R. Gaerlan recently met with PLDT Chairman and CEO Manny V. Pangilinan and discussed various undertakings that will boost ICT capabilities and future-proof the Freeport.
Gaerlan said PLDT is one of the most important partners of the state-owned firm as it will significantly contribute to making the Freeport a smart and technology-focused investment destination.
On top of telecom projects, the meeting also tackled other utilities such as fuel distribution in Clark.
This Freeport is host to Clark Telecom – a subsidiary of PLDT—which is considered as one of the leading internet and telecom services providers in Clark. The 92-year company was also present during the presence of American troops inside the former US Airbase.
PLDT also rolled out the very first 5G service in the country inside Clark in 2018, making the Freeport lay a foothold on reliable and extremely high speed with low latency internet connection. 5G service is key in achieving IOT (internet of things) that create smart cities.
In 2017, a P1.3 Billion Vitro Data Center Clark was launched by ePLDT here. The said facility is the first Rated-3 data center facility outside Metro Manila, based on the TIA-942 standards. This certification is given to data centers that are concurrently maintainable in design, which means each component that is part of the distribution path can be removed, replaced, or serviced on a planned basis without any disruption in the client’s ICT capabilities.
Meanwhile, aside from internet and telecommunications services, the MVP Group of Companies which is also chaired by Pangilinan, has also poured-in various investments and interests in the Freeport.
Some of these are the Clark Electric Distribution Corporation (Meralco), e-PLDT, and the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF).
The PDRF is being supported by PLDT – SMART and other network of business conglomerates that maintain collaborative efforts to assist in disaster management and preparedness in the country. It features a command center which harnesses data from local and international sources to monitor earthquakes, tropical cyclones, volcanic eruptions and pandemics and maps data on public infrastructure to help protect them from hazards.
Officers and executives of PLDT who also received Gaerlan and CDC Chief of Staff Dennis Legaspi at the PLDT office include PLDT Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer Alfredo Panlilio, PLDT and Smart Senior Vice President and Group Head Enterprise Business Jovy Hernandez, PLDT ClarkTel CEO Chito Franco, PLDT ALPHA Enterprise First Vice President and Head Victor Tria, and Metro Pacific Investments Government Relations and Public Affairs Head Atty. Michael Toledo.
