PLDT

PLDT is reducing the gender digital divide by providing internet access and digital skills training to women and girls living in remote areas of the Philippines.

PLDT is one of the few companies with initiatives across all levels of digital skills development. The PLDT Infoteach Outreach Program, launched in 2004 and conducted in partnership with the Philippines Department of Education, provides nationwide digital literacy training for students. The company’s Digital Farmers Program provides training to Filipino small-scale farmers on how to use digital technologies to grow their operations. Additionally, the company partners with educational institutions on the Smart Wireless Engineering Education Program (SWEEP) to offer courses and scholarships in computer engineering to students. Through its School-in-a-Bag programme, PLDT provides computers and Wi-Fi to schools in remote areas. PLDT’s School-in-a-Bag programme is also one of the few programmes surveyed in the benchmark that has received a third-party assessment.

PLDT discloses how cybersecurity is handled at the senior level in the company. Furthermore, the company has a computer emergency response team and information security management certifications, and it reports on data breaches. The company also makes a commitment to child online protection, and it partners with UNICEF and educates teachers and schoolchildren on the subject.

PLDT practices open innovation through participation in standards organisations, use of open source software and collaboration with universities. The company contributes to the tech innovation ecosystem through a venture capital fund and other support for start-ups. It also demonstrates good practice in sustainable innovation, using the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a framework for its activities and partnering with researchers on sustainability projects. The company discloses the number of its women employees engaged in technical roles.

PLDT can disclose additional metrics, such as participation numbers, and third-party impact assessments for its programmes for supporting digital access and digital opportunities for women and girls. There is also an opportunity for the company to expand its support for people with disabilities.

PLDT can disclose additional metrics, such as participation numbers, and third-party impact assessments for its programmes in this area.

PLDT has an opportunity to disclose the government requests it receives for user information.

There is an opportunity for the company to strengthen its commitment to open innovation by sharing open source code. PLDT can also consider supporting start-ups from underrepresented groups. Additionally, it should publicly disclose the ethical principles used to guide its research and development (R&D) and artificial intelligence (AI) activities.

PLDT states in its sustainability report that it “adheres to internationally recognised principles on labour and human rights”, but it does not commit to respecting human rights in a publicly available policy statement. Furthermore, the company does not disclose a process to identify, assess and take action on the salient human rights risks in its own operations and in its business relationships. PLDT does have a grievance mechanism for workers to raise human rights concerns and complaints, but it is unclear if external stakeholders have access to this mechanism. Furthermore, it is unclear if complainants have the option to identify themselves or remain anonymous.

In its sustainability report, PLDT states that it respects employees’ right to safe and healthy working conditions. However, it does not commit to respect the health and safety of workers in a publicly available policy statement. Furthermore, the company lacks disclosure in relation to living wages, working hours and collective bargaining for its entire operations. For example, the company does not specify that it does not require workers to work more than 48 hours in a regular week and 60 hours including overtime. In relation to workforce diversity, the company provides a breakdown of employees in different employee categories by age and gender. However, it does not disclose this information against other indicators of diversity.

PLDT does not disclose any relevant information in relation to tax, such as a global tax strategy or income tax payments in individual tax jurisdictions. The company also does not publicly disclose information in relation to lobbying and political engagement, such as its lobbying expenditures. PLDT does prohibit bribery and corruption, but it does not publicly state whether it includes anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses in its contracts with business relationships.

The below datasheet disaggregates scores within the three core social measurement areas and by specific indicators.