Rufino Cognayo, Jr., a 53-year-old prepaid load reseller with Telepreneur Corp (TPC), has rebranded his general merchandise store after losing his job in a brokerage during the COVID-19 pandemic and battling cancer. He is one of many TPC members benefiting from its partnership with Smart Communications, Inc., which aims to empower Filipinos and provide livelihood opportunities through prepaid load products.
“When we opened our small store, an acquaintance of mine came over and encouraged me to activate a retailer SIM so that I could sell prepaid load. I tried it, and the rest is history,” he shared.
The father of two also said that the Smart and TNT prepaid promos helped increase the sales of his store and his TPC portfolio as well. “They always buy the promos with unlimited calls or data for video.” He noted that access to reliable mobile internet is important because people use it for transactions, business, and entertainment.
Smart continuously expands and enhances its mobile network, covering 97% of the population nationwide, enabling Filipinos to be more productive, entertained, and stay connected while on the go with its 4G/LTE and 5G connectivity.
“Rufino’s story is among those that continue to inspire us to look for ways to make our prepaid load products and services more accessible to Filipinos nationwide. At the same time, we hope to continue enriching the lives of our resellers under our partner TPC by helping provide them with decent livelihood opportunities to augment their income,” said Christian So, Assistant Vice President and head of National Key Accounts at Smart.
Aside from that, Cognayo also became the lucky member who received a brand-new car from the raffle draw conducted by TPC and Smart during their kick-off event earlier this year.
The funny thing was, he said, he thought it was a scam.
“I didn’t believe it at first. We’re being very careful because there are a lot of scams these days. Thankfully, TPC proved that I won a legit raffle,” he candidly shared, earning a barrel of laughs during the interview. “I am thankful to TPC and Smart,” he added.
These initiatives with TPC form part of PLDT and Smart’s push in providing connectivity to all and building a more inclusive digital economy and are aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth and SDG 9 – Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure.
