He made sure that his arrival is without fanfare and in fact did not want any publicity about it. But a few days before Justin Bieber arrived, fans were already speculating and rumors started circulating that he will be in Manila.
The whisper grew louder when Justin Beiber tweeted the hashtag #GiveBackPhilippines, a campaign he started to raise funds for Yolanda survivors. According to TV5 executive Chot Reyes, the project (to bring Bieber in Manila) was in collaboration with SMART, PLDT and TV5. The Kapatid network was the exclusive broadcaster of Justin’s #GiveBackPhilippines Philippine visit and was given access to exclusive on ground photos and videos of Bieber as soon as he landed in Tacloban. “We were only given a few days to pull this off but somehow, PLDT, SMART and TV5 managed,” Coach chot revealed. He, together with a few executives including Wilma Galvante and TV5 CFO Anna Bengzon went Tacloban with Justin Bieber’s entourage, comprised of 30 people.
Photos of the international popstar hugging children, singing, dancing, and playing basketball with them circulated online along with videos and news reports c/o TV5 News correspondent MJ Marfori.
Bieber has been raising funds for Yolanda survivors through his #GiveBackPhilippines campaign. He is said to be about to stage a fund-raising concert but chose to fly here and do an global fundraising campaign instead. The singer described his Philippine stop as “the most important” one in his “Believe” world tour, and “the most important trip of my life.” No full-blown feature on this yet but TV5, the exclusive broadcaster of Justin’s #GiveBackPhilippines Philippine visit, is said to be cooking up a TV special. Something to watch out for.
Some happy moments captured on camera were Justin embracing a little boy and him singing Christmas carols to Filipino children, all Yolanda survivors, who seemingly couldn’t believe that their idol is right in front of them.