APO fratmen run naked anew to protest Marcos burial

Members of the Alpha Phi Omega (APO) Fraternity in the University of the Philippines (UP) Manila on Friday held the annual Oblation Run to condemn the burial of late President Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

In a statement, APO said burying the late strongman at the Libingan ng mga Bayani was a “grotesque mockery and insult” to those who genuinely sacrificed their lives for the country.

“To allow Marcos a place alongside these heroes is a grotesque mockery and insult to their memories,” the statement read.

“Above all, it is a blatant disregard for the struggles of countless individuals who were killed, tortured, and abducted for making a stand against his tyrannical regime,” it added.

Fraternity members ran naked around the College of Arts and Sciences in UP Manila, carrying portraits of Martial law victims and handing out roses to female spectators.

LOOK: Oblation run sa UP, tinuligsa ang paglibing kay dating Pang. Ferdinand Marcos sa Libingan ng mga Bayani. | via Carlo Mateo pic.twitter.com/kgfwtXmfOe

— DZBB Super Radyo (@dzbb) December 2, 2016

“We run to enjoin every Iskolar ng Bayan to look past colors and allegiances and value the freedom that is our nation's heritage; freedom paid for in blood by our fellow Iskos and Iskas who unquestioningly answered the university’s highest call: selfless offering of oneself for our country,” APO said in a statement.

A week earlier, a total of 27 APO members from the UP Diliman chapter also held the Oblation Run in protest of the late dictator at the heroes’ cemetery and to press the Duterte administration to deliver on its promise of peace with insurgents.

The Oblation Run traces its roots in 1977 when APO members in UP Diliman ran naked in support of a stage play, ““Hubad na Bayani,” which showed the atrocities of Martial law.

The protest action has been staged every year since then, usually in December. —NB, GMA News