Public vigilance urged over increasing number of human trafficking cases
Civil society organizations involved in the fight against human trafficking recently called for more vigilance and involvement on the part of the public to stop the increasing number of cases of human trafficking in the country.
Cecille Flores-Oebanda of the Visayan Forum Foundation, an organization which provides assistance to victims of human trafficking in the Philippines, noted a 10 percent increase in the number of cases of human trafficking monitored by their group this past year.
“In areas where we operated before, Cebu, Davao, there has been a slight decrease,” Flores-Oebenda observed. She pointed out however that there had been an increase in cases monitored in backdoor areas such as Zamboanga and Tawi-tawi. Flores-Oebanda also says that there have been a couple of cases in Clark.
“Even if we stand guard in those places, we’ll already die in guarding, but this problem will still not be over. It should be the public themselves [who should] own the problem,” Flores-Oebanda says. She adds that human trafficking is alarming because the victims are very young, the youngest they have rescued being an 11-year-old girl.
“Trafficking has been happening right under our noses,” said Flores-Oebenda. “Traffickers creatively prey on our women and children, especially during this time of financial crisis when the poor becomes most vulnerable to false promises.”
War against trafficking
Flores-Oebanda described their fight against human trafficking as a type of war. “We call it a war because the issue is no longer cute and urgent action is needed,” she says.
To increase public awareness over the issue, a series of concerts organized by MTV Philippines, the Visayan Forum Foundation and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was launched last Friday, May 22, at the Mall of Asia. Artists who played at the concert included Parokya ni Edgar, Pupil, Callalily, Spongecola, Bamboo, Gary V, and Christian Bautista.
Dubbed as the MTV End Exploitation and Trafficking (EXIT) campaign, the concert series aims to raise awareness to help prevent human trafficking in Asia and the Pacific through television programs, the internet, live concerts, and partnerships with anti-trafficking organizations.
The MTV EXIT 2009 Philippines Concert Tour is produced by the MTV Europe Foundation in partnership with USAID.
Prior to the concert, thousands of anti-trafficking advocates led by the Visayan Forum endured the heat of the sun as they participated in a Freedom March against human trafficking on Friday, May 22 at Pasay City.
The delegation; which was composed of representatives from both government and non-government organizations, religious groups, private institutions, and schools; initially gathered by the Heritage Hotel at 2:30 in the afternoon on Friday before marching to the Mall of Asia Concert Grounds for the kick-off concert.
This freedom march is the first in a nationwide campaign to spread awareness about human trafficking and increase vigilance about the issue. Following the Mall of Asia concert, subsequent events will be held in Clark, Davao, and Cebu.
Multimedia Initiative
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. MTV EXIT has also established partnerships with over 100 non-governmental organizations, distributed hundreds of thousands of anti-trafficking brochures in over 25 languages, and reached out to millions of young people through anti-trafficking messages at concerts and music festivals featuring R.E.M., Radiohead, The White Stripes, The Hives, Thievery Corporation, and hundreds of other international and local artists. – Victoria Camille Tulad and Anna Bueno, Newsbreak
Cecille Flores-Oebanda of the Visayan Forum Foundation, an organization which provides assistance to victims of human trafficking in the Philippines, noted a 10 percent increase in the number of cases of human trafficking monitored by their group this past year.
“In areas where we operated before, Cebu, Davao, there has been a slight decrease,” Flores-Oebenda observed. She pointed out however that there had been an increase in cases monitored in backdoor areas such as Zamboanga and Tawi-tawi. Flores-Oebanda also says that there have been a couple of cases in Clark.
“Even if we stand guard in those places, we’ll already die in guarding, but this problem will still not be over. It should be the public themselves [who should] own the problem,” Flores-Oebanda says. She adds that human trafficking is alarming because the victims are very young, the youngest they have rescued being an 11-year-old girl.
“Trafficking has been happening right under our noses,” said Flores-Oebenda. “Traffickers creatively prey on our women and children, especially during this time of financial crisis when the poor becomes most vulnerable to false promises.”
War against trafficking
Flores-Oebanda described their fight against human trafficking as a type of war. “We call it a war because the issue is no longer cute and urgent action is needed,” she says.
To increase public awareness over the issue, a series of concerts organized by MTV Philippines, the Visayan Forum Foundation and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was launched last Friday, May 22, at the Mall of Asia. Artists who played at the concert included Parokya ni Edgar, Pupil, Callalily, Spongecola, Bamboo, Gary V, and Christian Bautista.
Dubbed as the MTV End Exploitation and Trafficking (EXIT) campaign, the concert series aims to raise awareness to help prevent human trafficking in Asia and the Pacific through television programs, the internet, live concerts, and partnerships with anti-trafficking organizations.
The MTV EXIT 2009 Philippines Concert Tour is produced by the MTV Europe Foundation in partnership with USAID.
Prior to the concert, thousands of anti-trafficking advocates led by the Visayan Forum endured the heat of the sun as they participated in a Freedom March against human trafficking on Friday, May 22 at Pasay City.
The delegation; which was composed of representatives from both government and non-government organizations, religious groups, private institutions, and schools; initially gathered by the Heritage Hotel at 2:30 in the afternoon on Friday before marching to the Mall of Asia Concert Grounds for the kick-off concert.
This freedom march is the first in a nationwide campaign to spread awareness about human trafficking and increase vigilance about the issue. Following the Mall of Asia concert, subsequent events will be held in Clark, Davao, and Cebu.
Multimedia Initiative
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. MTV EXIT has also established partnerships with over 100 non-governmental organizations, distributed hundreds of thousands of anti-trafficking brochures in over 25 languages, and reached out to millions of young people through anti-trafficking messages at concerts and music festivals featuring R.E.M., Radiohead, The White Stripes, The Hives, Thievery Corporation, and hundreds of other international and local artists. – Victoria Camille Tulad and Anna Bueno, Newsbreak
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