MANILA, Philippines February 2006– Alpha Phi Omega (APO) fraternity members continued a yearly initiation ritual, the Oblation Run, where the pledges parade around the campus in colorful mask, but are otherwise nude, carrying protest signs.
Students and onlookers with cameras and cell phones line the street to watch. The annual event is named after the Oblation, a bronze sculpture of a naked man outside Quezon Hall, the university’s administration building. Some of the onlookers sing, “Here come the birds,” as the runners approach. The run started in 1977 and is usually held on Dec. 16.
However this time, their rite of passage was overshadowed by women streakers wearing wigs and masks. The women emerged moments after the APO streakers left the hall about 11:45 a.m. They gamely posed for the cameras in front of the Oblation at Quezon Hall at the UP Diliman campus while carrying posters with the message: “Equal Rights for Women.”
The women did not say anything, but stayed just long enough to pose for photographers before fleeing toward a waiting car. APO claimed to have had no hand in the unidentified women’s surprise appearance. |
