Keep updated on what Pope Francis is doing while he’s here

Pope Francis arrives in the Philippines tomorrow, and if you’re one of the millions of devoted Catholics in our country, you’ll want to keep track of what he’s doing and where he’s going while he’s here. Smart has partnered up with Twitter to give free access their 69 million prepaid and postpaid subscribers including Sun Cellular and Talk ‘N Text to the social network from January 15 to January 19.

That’s right – you just need to text DEARPOPE to 9999 starting tomorrow, and you’ll be able to get free access to Twitter during the duration of his holiness’ stay. That’s on top of the already generous 30MB of free data that has been extended until February 15.

“With this collaboration, Smart and Twitter aim to allow more Filipinos to get involved and immerse in this historic experience with Pope Francis, who our Catholic nation hold very dear to our heart,” said Napoleon L. Nazareno, president and CEO, PLDT and Smart.

“In the same way Pope Francis has embraced Twitter with his official account @Pontifex to reach out to more Catholics all over the world, Filipinos may use this very same platform on their mobile devices to see events unfold and join heartfelt conversations – whether they are physically present in the event or not.

“Twitter is excited to partner with Smart to enable all Filipinos to get closer to the Pope and connect with the local community for this historic occasion – from expressing their hopes and prayers using Tweets with #DearPopeFrancis hashtag as well as getting real-time updates, photos and conversations in their Twitter timeline on Pope Francis’ first-ever visit to the Philippines. Most importantly, join the Twitter flock and sign up now to follow the Pope’s Twitter account (@Pontifex) during his visit, so that you can be one of the first to get the Pope’s Tweets via the Twitter app on your Smart mobile device,” said Arvinder Gujral, Director Business Development, India and SE Asia, Twitter.