Theresians Win Anti-Child Trafficking Songwriting Tilt

CEBU, Philippines - Two senior high-school students of St. Theresa’s College bested 11 other participants of International Justice Mission’s (IJM) first ever Against Child Trafficking (ACT) Now Songwriting Competition held June 24th at the Ayala Terraces. The tandem of Angelica Sarah Caparas and Jeanette Lavilla emerged as the grand prize winner for their entry titled Hear Me Out.

Second place went to Kabataan Biktima, Luwason Ta by Norman Jabonero and Rev. Fr. Charles Louis Jayme, interpreted by Wilson Po; while the third spot was won by Hear The Cry of the Children which was written and interpreted by Salome Oro. Declared Best Interpreters were Fidel Cascabel and Rommel Manlosa for Future of Every Nation composed by Erwin Lirazan.  

Judging the 12 finalists were Cebu Vice-Governor Agnes Magpale, Regional State Prosecutor Fernando Gubalane, ABS-CBN’s Kapamilya Winner Ka! Executive Producer Greg Limpin, Peace Philharmonic Orchestra Conductor Professor Roberto del Rosario, and Notre Dame Broadcasting Corporation Chief Operations Officer Rikki Climaco.

Aside from the well-applauded numbers, the exciting announcement of winners, and a performance by special guest singer-songwriter Juris Fernandez of the ASAP Sessionistas, the evening was also marked by the special announcement of event hosts Miss Cebu 2011 Mia Zeeba Ali Faridoon, Miss Cebu 2009 Kris Tiffany Janson and Miss Cebu 2009 2nd runner-up Isa Eguia that balladeer Christian Bautista was to be IJM’s celebrity ambassador.

The advocacy-driven competition was organized to raise public awareness of human trafficking and stir up all sectors of society to take an active role in ending the exploitation of children by calling on the public justice system to take action against traffickers. According to IJM National Director for the Philippines Andrey Sawchenko, 259 child trafficking victims were rescued by law enforcement in Cebu for the past four years.

As a complement to the songwriting contest, a photo exhibit near Ayala Tower 1 in the Terraces was mounted for display from June 19-25, with interpretation from local photographers telling the “Story of Trafficking.” Through these efforts, IJM hopes to help slowly eradicate this “cottage industry and long-held evil.”

“We are delighted that so many excellent songwriters in Cebu applied their talents to underscore the reality of child trafficking and the urgent need for aggressive response. We’re also grateful for the artistic vision of the talented photographers who shared their own interpretations of trafficking,” shared Sawchenko.  

After the songwriting competition, IJM launched in an earlier press luncheon another contest in cooperation with PECOJON (Peace and Conflict Journalism Network): the Justice Award for Reporting Human Trafficking, a Cebu-wide media contest to promote holistic and conflict-sensitive reporting of human trafficking issues in the Philippines. The contest aims to recognize stories that look deeper into underlying causes of trafficking and the impact to society.

Entries will be in two categories, print and online, with three winners being chosen per category. Deadline for submission of entries is October 22, 2011, while the winners will be announced December 12, 2011 during the International Anti-Human Trafficking Day Celebration.

The contest is open to all full-time and freelance journalists working for print or online media in Metro Cebu; news reports and features must highlight the trafficking issues. The focus could be on conditions that foster trafficking and other situations of violence resulting in trafficking, accountability of traffickers, life after rescue for victims, etc.; entries may be in English, Filipino or Cebuano; entries must be submitted in two copies. Each entry must have an accompanying authentication from the news outfit where the entry was published or broadcast; and qualified entries must have been published between March 1, 2011- October 22, 2011.

Below are the lyrics of the winning anti-child trafficking piece:

Hear Me Out

Composer: Angelica Sarah Caparas

Lyricist: Jeanette Lavilla

Arranger: Joel Oporto

Interpreters: AJ and Jeanette

Chorus:

Hear me out

I’m restless inside me

I’ve been used so much

Hear me out (Hear me out)

Give me hope

Let the heavens hear me out

Rap 1:

Raping me, using me

Everybody touching me

Fondling me, petting me

Sometimes I just want to be someone else

Someone who just loves and yells

“Lord, I am special too

Tell me what I need to do

For them to understand my situation

And do something too.”

I know there’s still hope

And I know you know I have big dreams

Dreams for my family

Dreams for people like me

Dreams like to soar high

And dreams that will make me fly

Pre-chorus:

Everybody’s looking for love

I know there’s still much around

Let me regain my strength

Defend my rights

Love everything about me

I believe there is hope

I believe in God

And I believe there is a battle to win

Between my mind and heart

Wanna make myself pure again

I just need to respect myself

You need to hear me out

Hear me out now

(repeat chorus)

Rap 2:

Trust me, I wanna start anew

A new beginning for the both of us – me and you

To try to be positive

Never ever negative

Never let my dreams fall apart – thanks to you

I gotta be strong

Like nothing’s ever going wrong

Try to hold on

Even if the world’s changing in a fast pace

Even if you spit right in front of my face

I’ll suck it up even though it hurts

(repeat chorus)

Bridge:

So look at me closely

And stare at me baby

I’m gonna fight for what is right

Try to make things work between my life

You just wait

You just wait and see

Soon I’ll rise from my fall

Soon I’ll go past through it all (2x)

Rap 3:

I guess you’re right when you said

“You’d be everything you thought you wouldn’t be”

But look at me I’m not afraid

Because starting today

I’mma fight for what is right

I’mma fight for what I like

(repeat chorus)

Coda:

Everybody’s looking for love

I know there’s still much around

Let me regain my strength

Defend my rights

Love everything about me