FILIPINO rock band Hale holds a recent a gig meant to raise funds for some charitable organizations. Watch this video report by INQUIRER.net production specialist Janie Octia.
Ever since the days of USA for Africa and Band Aid, music has become a vehicle for various causes.
In the Philippines, MTV has been holding a music summit mainly geared towards protecting young people from the risk of acquiring human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).
“Seemingly, there is a gap in bridging the message to the intended audience like the young people. The best way to reach them is through media and MTV,” says Dr. Jose Gerard Belimac, manager of AIDS & STI Prevention and Control Program of the Department of Health (DOH).
By Erika Tapalla
INQUIRER.net
QUEZON CITY, Philippines — In a world where the concept of community has transcended barrios and has grown to include social networks, viral campaigns have worked to extend its reach by using the Internet.
KL Sol Cruz organized Project Savannah, a viral fund raising campaign aimed to raise some money to save “Savannah,” an unborn child who has been diagnosed with congenital diaphragmatic hernia. This is a condition in which the baby’s diaphragm, the organ that separates the chest cavity (containing the heart and lungs) from the abdominal cavity (containing the stomach, liver and intestines), fails to develop completely. It also involves an underdeveloped diaphragm that leaves a hole where the intestines and the stomach can enter the chest cavity, thereby affecting the development of the lungs. After birth, the lungs may collapse and the child may not be able to breathe.
Savannah must undergo a $100,000 operation, called intrauterine fetal surgery, which can only be performed in the United States.
Parents Vida and Brian Samson have approached several foundations to shoulder the cost of the procedure and are awaiting a positive response. The Philippine Airlines has already given the couple roundtrip tickets to San Francisco.
Meanwhile, Sol Cruz and a team of 13 other people have resorted to more creative ways to reach people. Through social networks Multiply and Facebook, they are gathering participants to attend “Rock the Cradle” and “Ultrasound,” to raise more funds to help cover for travel, tax and other expenses of the couple.
The advantages of Internet fund raising are many. It is quick, cheap and unobtrusive — but will it be enough to save Savannah?
By Jeannette Andrade
Inquirer
MANILA, Philippines–It is not the type of music that sticks in your head.
But it is a melody that the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) Philippines hopes will sensitize a society that has become insensitive to privation.
In launching the song “Poverty Requiem” locally, GCAP Philippines aims to join the worldwide call on Wednesday — the International Day of Hunger and Poverty Eradication or the Whiteband Day — to eliminate destitution through positive action.
AS I’m writing this, Eskimo Joe is playing at the Aussie Stadium in Sydney, Australia as part of the round-the-world Live Earth Concerts for a Climate in Crisis.
Nope, I didn’t fly to Sydney, heh 
You can watch the Live Earth concerts in Australia, Japan, China, Germany and other countries online via MSN.
While you can use other browsers, for the best experience and to watch all the concerts in one player, you need Internet Explorer.
Here’s a promo video courtesy of Soapbox on MSN Video.
