APO closes 2014 with its Great Oblation Run at UP Diliman

Note: FilAm Star, the weekly 'newspaper for Filipinos in mainstream America' featured one picture I took during the subject Oblation Run in the front page of the 19-25 December edition, which also carries my photo-essay on the Lantern Parade at UP Diliman, The online pdf copy can be downloaded from http://www.filamstar.net/images/stories/pdf/301.pdf.

Picture cured for 'general patronage'

The Alpha Phi Omega Fraternity (APO) held their traditional Great Oblation Run at the Palma Hall of the University of the Philippines Diliman campus on 12 December 2014. This is the 37th year when members of the fraternity run naked as a symbolic protest action to issues presently confronting the nation. APO calls this Run their Ritual Dance of the Brave.

In a public statement, APO called for "accountability and sustained action on the part of those in power to respect the rule of law."

It called attention to the "latest addition to the still-existing pork barrel system" particularly the "insertion of various lump allocations in the 2015 budget." In this regard, it said, government leaders should "comply with the Constitution, respect rather than challenge its authority on this matter, and strike down such policies that will violate our country's dignity."

 

Original picture.

APO also urged government "to address the culture of impunity" in the country today, citing several manifestations like the case of the slain transgender Jennifer Laude involving an American service man, the squalor of evacuation camps in Zamboanga City, the plight of Yolanda victims who have yet to achieve normalcy in their lives, the millions of farmers who are still denied right to own lands they till, struggles of workers for better wages, the lives of more than 300 political prisoners, and the lack of progress in the Maguindanao Massacre trials.

In hoping for a better future, APO called Filipinos to work together towards restoration of the rule of law, to take action towards the legislation of the Bangsamoro Basic Law, Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill, and the Genuine Freedom of Information Bill.