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The naked truth: Oblation runners bare all vs. selective justice, impunity, pork


Members of the Apha Phi Omega fraternity participate in the annual Oblation Run around Palma Hall at the University of the Philippines Diliman on Friday, December 12. The naked runners called for the prosecution of those involved in the Aquino administration's Disbursement Acceleration Program, parts of which have been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. GMA News
 
The Alpha Phi Omega fraternity at the University of the Philippines celebrated its 37th ritual dance of the brave, the Oblation Run, on Friday, with about 40 members running naked around the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy building (Palma Hall) as spectators cheered them on.

Named "Run For The Rule Of Law", this year's run called for the government to "follow their mandate", end "selective justice", and permanently abolish the Disbursement Acceleration Program.

'Follow the Constitution'

Carlo Benhur, head of the 2014 Oblation Run, said the government has broken laws for political gain, and called on it to "follow [its] mandate" by being impartial in cracking down on corruption.

"We are calling on them to uphold it, to follow the Constitution, and to end impunity in choosing only their political opponents... when we understand that even the allies of the current administration [should] have their own cases of corruption," Benhur told GMA News Online.

He also said legislators had become used to conducting trials of publicity and are no longer focused on making laws.

Benhur also cited the proceedings in the case of slain transgender woman Jennifer Laude, in which a US serviceman is the main suspect in the killing.

“It’s a case of breaking the Constitution in order to allow the United States military to tread on our people to commit human rights abuses,” he said.

APO's media relations officer Darrien Mitchell Bas said the Laude case and the lack of justice for the victims of the Maguindanao massacre showed the government's unwillingness to fight against the culture of impunity.

"Sa Maguindanao massacre, yung mga 57 na namatay, ‘di pa rin nabibigyan ng hustisya dahil wala pa ring nape-persecute... Napaka-selective ng justice—yung mga elite lang ang nase-serve. Kung may pera ka, tsaka ka lang mabibigyan ng ‘justice’,” he said.



Ending DAP, prioritizing education

Bas also said impunity was made manifest in the government's unwillingness to abolish the Disbursement Acceleration Fund despite its being declared unconstitutional.

“Hindi dapat nabibigyan mo lang ang isang politiko ng certain amount of pera tapos siya yung bahalang magdikta. Kailangan may certain sense of transparency at may patutunguhan yung paggagastusan ng pera kasi pera yun ng taumbayan," he said.

2013 Oblation Run organizer Toby Roca said that DAP still exists in some form in the 2015 national budget in the form of unprogrammed funds.

"Itong mga funds na ito, 'di naka-itemize sa ating budget, nakalagay lamang sila bilang unprogrammed funds per department, at napaka-open po nito sa maling gamit at eventually, sa korupsyon," he said.

Roca also criticized the rise in tuition fees.

"Mali ang pagtaas ng tuition at dapat ibalik ang tuition natin sa lebel na abot-kaya ng masa. Kung 'di man po, libre na ang edukasyon," he said.

Roca also called on the government to attend to the housing needs of the victims of Typhoon Ruby, lest they end up the same as the still-displaced victims of Typhoon Yolanda and the Zamboanga City attack.

Students react

But how effective is the run in conveying its message to fellow students and outsiders?

Freshmen Rain Bartolome and Lino Liguanan said that the political nature of the run was evident, but had mixed opinions on its efficacy.

"People just watch it for the thrill of it," said Liguanan.

"I think they get noticed naman because—I'm not saying it is, [but] for other people, it is scandalous," Bartolome said.

While the cause was noble, Jomar, a second year Political Science major, said the run might be too scandalous for some to understand the reason behind its presentation.

"For them, it's too obscene, naked men running around. But for me naman, it's their technique to promote awareness for [their] advocacy," he said.

And while UP students understood the nature of the annual event, freshman Paolo Santiago pointed out that those outside the UP system might only see it as a traditional event.

His concern is not unfounded, as outsiders milled with students outside Palma Hall to catch a glimpse of the APO's three waves around the building.

Students from New Era University only heard of the event because of their proximity to the campus, while students from the Philippine Women's University only knew it had a vaguely political background.

Despite this, some of UP's international students found the event refreshingly different, and saw the event as a chance to observe this unusual form of protest.

"It's quite new for me, 'cause I didn't know about this kind of pork barrel protest, so I was very interested to see how the protesting is," Vaan, a Dutch national, said.

"[It's] slightly political, but in a much more light way, like humorous," said a female South Korean student.

Marlon Veloso, APO alumni of Batch '72, said the tradition didn't always have a political message behind it, but that this changed when it was recognized as an official event in 1977.

"During our time, '72, it's not really official. Oblation Run is just streaking... It was a concept that was being done for fun," said Veloso.

"We were surprised that after so many years that it [has] become a part of the university," he added.

According to Bas, no neophytes or applicants were allowed to participate in the event as part of their initiation rites.

"Only fully fledged members ang pwedeng tumakbo for the Oblation run. It’s a privilege not given to them,” said Bas, who added that most of their members were Engineering students. — BM, GMA News
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