Manny Pacquiao’s shows his latest moves on the Asia-wide public service initiative on disaster preparednessBoxing hero is new champ of disaster preparednessKnown for his prowess inside the boxing ring, Filipino pride Manny Pacquiao is now a champion for a new cause—disaster preparedness. And you can watch him do it while watching TV in the comfort of your own homes.Prudence Foundation, the regional charitable arm of Prudential Corporation Asia and Pru Life UK in the Philippines has teamed up with National Geographic Channel (under the FOX International Channels), and the Filipino boxing pride to launch Safe Steps—a first-of-its-kind pan-Asian public service initiative that seeks to enhance disaster preparedness and awareness in the region through the dissemination of educational survival tips in response to natural disasters.Core to the program is a series of 60-second educational videos produced the cable network starring the “Safe Steps Ambassador” who demonstrates what individuals and households should do during the most common disaster situations in Asia, namely typhoons, earthquakes, floods and fire, as well as tips on how to prepare for a life-saving emergency kit.Commenting on his new role, Pacquiao said, “I am happy and honored to do this. As soon as the program was presented to me, I wanted to do it, no question. Having personally witnessed the devastation by typhoon Yolanda in Tacloban last November [2013], I strongly believe this is an important campaign that can help save lives, not just in the Philippines but the whole of Asia. With these tips, we all can be survivors.”The videos on typhoon and earthquake safety tips are currently airing across Asia on 13 channels on the FIC network, namely National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo People, FOX, FOX Crime, FOX Movies Premium, FOX Sports, FX, Star Movies, Star Chinese Movies, Star Sports, Star World and Channel V reaching viewers from over 24 million households in Asia. The video content will also be available in eight local languages—Cantonese, Mandarin, Bahasa Indonesia, Bahasa Malaysia, Filipino, Thai, Vietnamese and Khmer.The educational videos are also featured on www.safesteps.com, where visitors can access expanded versions of the survival tips, as well as educational collateral such as infographic hand-out cards and posters that can be downloaded for easy recall of the messages.All survival tips advised on the Safe Step videos and website have been approved by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
