CEBU, Philippines - MTV Philippines, Visayan Forum Foundation and the U.S. Agency for International Development are taking the MTV EXIT (End Exploitation and Trafficking) concert tour south bound by visiting Cebu next. Despite the cancellation of the concert in Clark due to typhoon Ondoy on September 26, the fight continues!
Catch MTV EXIT on October 24, Saturday as it stages another FREE CONCERT happening at SM City Cebu’s Covered Parking Area. This is part of the ongoing free concert series MTV EXIT organized to take place across the Philippines in 2009. Supporting the campaign are three of the biggest names in the Philippine music industry, namely Urbandub, Sheila and the Insects and Sandwich, who will be performing at 6 p.m.
Prior to the concert, the civil society group led by the NGOs, faith-based organizations, private institutions and several student groups will gather to show their strength, unity and commitment in fighting human trafficking through the Walk Against Human Trafficking. Assembly for participants will be at Malobo Church grounds from 3:30 to 4:00 pm and will head towards SM City for the concert. The participants of the WALK will be carrying banners, placards, and other symbols expressing their core messages, calls and commitment against human trafficking. Representatives from the Interagency Council Against Trafficking and other national leaders will also join the WALK and the Concert.
MTV Exit
The MTV EXIT (End Exploitation and Trafficking) campaign is an award-winning multimedia initiative to raise awareness and increase prevention of human trafficking and exploitation. MTV EXIT was launched in Europe in 2004, in partnership with the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, Sida, and expanded across Asia with USAID in 2007. To date, MTV EXIT has produced many MTV documentaries and other programming on trafficking, including Traffic: An MTV EXIT Special, presented by Lucy Liu; Inhuman Traffic, presented by Angelina Jolie; over a dozen localized language versions presented by Asian celebrities; short films; public service announcements; and animation. MTV EXIT and Radiohead collaborated on an anti-exploitation video for their song All I Need, which premiered across MTV’s global network on 1 May 2008. For more information see www.mtvexit.org.
Human Trafficking
Human Trafficking is defined by the United Nations as “the recruitment, transportation, and receipt of a person for sexual or economical exploitation by force, fraud, coercion, or deception” in order to make a profit. The UN estimates that at any one time there are 2.5 million trafficked victims in the world, with the majority of these victims in Asia and the Pacific. It is the second-largest illegal trade after drugs, with criminal traffickers earning over US$10 billion every year through the buying and selling of human beings. Often, victims are young men and women – the MTV demographic – who are guilty only of wanting a better life.
MTV EXIT will be ending the Philippine Tour at SM City Davao’s Event Center on November 21. For more information regarding this, log on to www.mtvphil.com.