Aquino visit spoils naked run in Calapan, but not in Victoria, Roxas

APO members from Mindoro State College of Agriculture and Technology in their annual Oblation Run. (Photo by Kristine Aleli)

President Benigno Aquino’s visit in Calapan City barred members of the Alpha Phi Omega from streaking naked. But elsewhere in Oriental Mindoro province, fratmen freely held their annual Oblation Run last week.

Carlo Alcoba, former president of the APO provincial alumni association, told The Mindoro Post on Monday that the city government of Calapan did not issue a permit for the December 15 run as it coincided with the visit of Aquino in the city.

The President led the inauguration of the newly-built Calapan public market, touted as the most modern in the Mimaropa region.

But in the Oriental Mindoro towns of Victoria and Roxas, Alcoba said that APO members sprinted freely in their birthday suit as the fraternity celebrated its 85th founding anniversary.

The Oblation Run began in 1977 at the University of the Philippines in Diliman when the movie “Hubad na Bayani” was banned by former dictator Ferdinand Marcos. The film depicted human rights abuses during the late president’s martial rule.

The naked run has since become a traditional event in UP and APO chapters in other universities across the country later adopted the unclothed dash to mark the fraternity’s December 15 anniversary.

Wearing nothing but masks to cover their faces, fratmen would streak baring not just their naked bodies but also the various social themes that they carry.

Last year, 25 stripped APO members sprinted in downtown Calapan to protest the large-scale mining operations on Mindoro island.