DiGi Telecommunications announced that starting this week, all of its Filipino prepaid subscribers will be given free RM3 airtime that can be used for voice call & SMS including a 1 hour free internet access via Opera Mini worth over RM500,000 in total. DiGi said that the “promotion” is to assist them to stay in touch with their loved ones in the Philippines.
A RM3 call to the Philippines is worth about 5-7 minutes. All registered Filipino subscribers will be informed on this promotion via SMS.
“We recognise the need to stay in close contact with loved ones in difficult times like these, and want to extend support to our friends and customers from the Philippines who have been badly affected by the devastation wrought by typhoon Haiyan. We hope this small gesture will help them get the latest situation updates from home, and further facilitate development of relief efforts in the Philippines,” said Albern Murty, DiGi’s Chief Marketing Officer.
Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines on Friday, 8 November 2013, killing thousands and leaving millions homeless, and causing severe damage and destruction in large parts of the Philippines.
Nearly 500,000 homes were damaged when Haiyan hit, according to the Philippine disaster council. The storm displaced 3 million people and affected 9.8 million. The number is expected to grow, as bodies buried beneath the rubble are recovered. Virtually every building in the city was damaged or destroyed in the storm; there is no running water and electricity is available only via diesel generator.
The Malaysia Government said that it will be sending RM3.2mil (US$1mil) to help with relief effort. A RMAF(Royal Malaysian Air Force) Charlie C130 aircraft carrying 14 tons of food, medicines, clothing, tents and infant nutrition products left the RMAF airbase for Tacloban, the Philippines last week.
