MTV, Visayan Forum and USAID partners against Trafficking!
01 June 2009

MTV has launched the MTV-EXIT (End Exploitation and Trafficking) campaign as part of its commitment to respond to the issue of trafficking since 2004. In line with this, MTV is producing an extensive live event tour across Asia. The first series of concerts featuring local and international artists was already held in Cambodia in the last quarter of 2008. This year, MTV will take its tour to Indonesia, Nepal and the PHILIPPINES.

To strengthen the momentum of the Philippines campaign on the "War Against Human Trafficking" (WAT) which was launched in August of 2008, the MTV Exit joined a year-long campaign with the Visayan Forum Foundation, Inc. (VF) with the support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

This campaign will serve as a rallying point for series of activities that will mobilize various stakeholders to scale up and sustain anti-human trafficking efforts in the country at every point of the process -- the source communities, transit areas and popular destinations. The campaign is mobilizing support from the public, communities, students and private sectors, most especially industries that are involved in the trade of transporting people through sea, air and land.

MTV Exit Philippines will culminate the island-wide efforts and the series of activities already initiated in the grassroots by various stakeholders headed by VF and its partners. There will be four concerts kicking off in Manila on May 22, followed by shows in Angeles on July 04, 2009, in Davao on September 12, 2009 and in Cebu on November 14, 2009. These locations were chosen based on the MTV Exit and VF research into which areas were most affected by trafficking in the Philippines, including the source, destination and transit areas for labor and/or sexual exploitation. MTV Exit will also engage local artists to become ambassadors of the MTV Exit and WAR AGAINST HUMAN TRAFFICKING.

Ultimately, the concert is equally seen as a step towards preventing trafficking on the ground; to warn the public; to protect and empower victims; to seek justice against traffickers; and to celebrate the efforts of champions that may help sustain actions on the ground.

Government officials, sponsors and international and UN supporters will be invited to deliver solidarity messages during the concert. Interview footages on the hopes and dreams of victim-survivors of trafficking will also be shown. Prior to each concert, multiple stakeholders (NGOs, Church-based organizations, Schools, Corporations, local government units) will gather for the FREEDOM MARCH to express their outrage against this exploitation and their dedication to the fight against traffickers. The Freedom March will highlight leader-representatives from these stakeholders who will present their respective messages and battle cries on trafficking issues. These stakeholders will be crucial in sustaining the momentum generated by the concert to ensure that its impact will resonate beyond just the audience who will attend but will also be the catalyst for grassroots action all over the country.

The Visayan Forum Foundation was founded in 1991 by a group of Visayan professionals, who provided relief goods to 5,000 landslide victims in Leyte and eventually sustained rehabilitation programs for around 3,000 displaced upland farmers and fisher folk families. Since then, VF has addressed the long-term consequences of natural disasters and poverty by embarking on creative partnerships to address trafficking and migration of women and children. VF is globally recognized for the operation of halfway houses helping more than 34,000 victims of trafficking through the provision of rescue and rehabilitation, medico-legal assistance, alternative skills enhancement and employment opportunities. VF has also organized community partners to prevent the incidence of trafficking and protect children from child abuse.

The Visayan Forum Foundation has been a client of 1ic since 2002. Their site has undergone three major revamps since then. The latest version of the site provides VF staff to manage virtually all aspects of the website, programming-free.