Las Piñas Explores AI to Improve Public Services with PLDT, Smart AI-in-a-Box

Las Piñas is turning to artificial intelligence (AI) to explore new ways of managing information, developing projects, and delivering public services, with PLDT and Smart’s AI-in-a-Box.

 

“AI-in-a-Box helps us bring all our data together, from green card programs to services for women, the youth, and TUPAD beneficiaries,” said Las Piñas Mayor April Aguilar. “This way, we know exactly who we’ve helped and who still needs support. In the end, it’s about making sure our services reach the people who need them most.”

 

AI-in-a-Box is the PLDT Group’s initiative to make AI more accessible to communities. The program combines digital tools, connectivity, training, and mentorship to help local government units turn emerging technologies into practical solutions to enhance public service delivery. 

 

“Through AI-in-a-Box, we want to give city personnel not just access to technology, but the confidence to explore how AI can address the needs of their own communities,” said Stephanie V. Orlino, AVP and Head of Stakeholder Engagement at PLDT and Smart. “When LGUs are equipped to make better use of their own information, they can begin finding new ways to make public services more responsive and accessible.”

 

Supported by PLDT-Smart Foundation and partners Microsoft and HP Philippines, PLDT and Smart provided the Las Piñas City government with an AI access kit, which includes an HP laptop, a SmartBro 5G Max Turbo WiFi unit, a smartphone, a premium AI tool subscription, and Smart prepaid load cards. 

 

"Across the Philippines, we are seeing tremendous momentum in AI adoption.​" said Ida Ong-Co, HP Philippines Managing Director, "At HP, we believe the next phase of AI is about helping organizations create smarter workflows that deliver sustainable results.​ It's about bringing together the right technology, security, visibility, and workforce experiences to enable AI adoption that is secure, scalable, and measurable.​"

 

And to help the city kick off its AI journey, PLDT and Smart also conducted an AI training to provide LGU employees hands-on experience in identifying where AI could be useful in their own work. Conducted by social innovation agency Limitless Lab, selected LGU personnel were trained in ‘vibe coding’, which uses natural-language prompts, rather than manually written code, to build and refine software prototypes. The approach allows people without formal programming or IT backgrounds to turn ideas into working concepts more quickly.

Staff from the City Social Welfare Development Office (CSWDO) used the training to develop a platform that will consolidate beneficiary data, aiming to prevent duplicate entries and ensure aid reaches the right beneficiaries.

 

“Our team was able to create a simple wireframe for an internal database that could help one of our sections with profiling and encoding,” said Paul Cristian B. Bautista, CSWDO Media/IT staff. “What made the exercise useful was that we were working on an actual need within our office and could see how a possible solution might look. The output is not yet a fully developed system, but it gives our team a starting point to visualize and explain the system we may want to develop further. This can make the planning and development process more practical and easier to understand.”

 

Other office personnel who are in the frontline of providing public services developed wireframes for an AI-powered chatbot that could answer frequently asked questions to cut down wait times for simple queries and free up staff for more complex tasks.

PLDT and Smart have extended AI-in-a-Box to other local government units across the Philippines, combining technology, connectivity and capability-building to bring AI closer to communities beyond major urban centers.

 

Through the initiative, PLDT and Smart provide participating communities with access to digital tools, training, and mentorship as they build solutions designed to address local concerns. AI-in-a-Box supports the PLDT Group’s much broader efforts to expand digital inclusion and encourage innovation in line with the UNSDG 9 on Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure.

How PLDT and Smart’s KonektedforLearning is Helping Shape Education in the Philippines

From pen and paper to artificial intelligence (AI) and interactive applications, PLDT and Smart’s #KonektedforLearning initiative champions learning for all by integrating technology into Philippine classrooms and boosting education resiliency through crisis-tested teaching strategies.

"Technology has the power to expand opportunities for learning, but its true value lies in how it helps students, teachers, and communities overcome barriers," said Stephanie V. Orlino, Assistant Vice President and Head of Stakeholder Engagement at PLDT and Smart. "Through KonektedforLearning, we work with partners to ensure that more Filipino learners can access quality education, develop future-ready skills, and continue learning even in challenging circumstances."

For decades, PLDT and Smart have worked alongside the Department of Education (DepEd) to help bring inclusive and quality learning opportunities to underserved communities, including geographically isolated schools and areas affected by conflict and natural disasters.

Connecting last-mile schools

Among the flagship initiatives under #KonektedforLearning is the School-in-a-Bag, a portable digital classroom designed to bring quality education in remote and underserved communities. Each package comes with a laptop for the teacher, 10 tablets pre-loaded with DepEd curriculum-based learning materials and interactive educational applications, a Smart Bro LTE Pocket Wi-Fi device, and expandable storage.

To date, PLDT and Smart, together with their partners and donors, have deployed 784 SIAB packages nationwide reaching nearly 120,000 students. UNICEF alone has committed more than 300 SIAB units for schools in hard-to-reach areas and economically disadvantaged communities.

Building Resilience Through Innovative Teaching

In recent years, extreme weather, earthquakes, and armed conflicts have disrupted classes across the country. To mitigate the impact caused by these events, the DepEd has adopted the PLDT and Smart-backed Central Visayan Institute Dynamic Learning Program (CVIF-DLP).

Pioneered by Ramon Magsaysay Awardees Dr. Christopher Bernido and his late wife, Dr. Marivic Carpio-Bernido, CVIF-DLP champions ‘learning by doing’ which places students at the center of the learning process. Using Learning Activity Sheets or single-page guides that break down complex concepts into manageable lessons, students work through the activity on their own with minimal teacher intervention. CVIF-DLP also addresses teacher shortage through a parallel class system that allows one expert teacher to simultaneously handle three classes.

With PLDT and Smart’s help in scaling the innovative teaching strategy, the program has trained around 33,000 teachers.

Preparing students for tomorrow’s technologies

Beyond improving access to education, #KonektedforLearning also prepares the Filipino youth to thrive in an increasing digital landscape. The Smart Wireless Engineering Education Program (SWEEP) works closely with schools to produce industry-ready engineering and information and communications technology graduates who are equipped with the skills to master existing technologies and adapt to emerging innovations.

Launched in 2003, SWEEP is the longest-running industry-academe linkage program in the Philippines. Now on its fifth phase, partner schools dive deeper into AI, automation, and intelligent systems. So far, the program has trained more than 53,000 teachers and students on the latest communication solutions powering the country’s connectivity.

Upskilling teachers for tech-powered learning

As technology continues to evolve, PLDT and Smart are also helping teachers harness digital tools to improve classroom experience. Through the PLDT Group’s AI-in-a-Box program, teachers are discovering how AI can help create more dynamic lesson plans, create custom learning activities, analyze data for insights, and automate routine administrative tasks. Since its pilot bootcamp last year, the initiative has trained over 800 teachers on the responsible and productive use of AI in education.

These efforts highlight PLDT and Smart’s use of technology for good, ensuring that no learner and teacher are left behind. The #KonektedforLearning initiatives form part of the PLDT Group’s commitment to help the country achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) No. 4 on Quality Education, with a strong focus on digital literacy.