An annual oblation run was held by the members of the Alpha Phi Omega (APO) at the University of the Philippines (UP) Manila campus on Monday, April 3 in a bid to end the hazing culture.
About 100 APO members ran naked around campus and along Padre Faure Street in Ermita as part of this year's team, "End Hazing: A Run for Safer Schools and Organizations."
The fraternity members also demanded the repeal of a pending bill in Congress on mandatory Reserve Officers Training Corps in College and put an end to extrajudicial killings.
Members of the APO urged the government to respect human rights and stop red-tagging activist groups.
Due to the pandemic, the oblation run was put on hold for two years.
The oblation run was revived last February in UP Diliman with the theme "Sama-sama Tayong Babaon Muli (We Will All Sink Together)" and a call for "accountability from the government for high inflation rates, ballooning foreign debt, and other anti-poor policies."
The issue of fraternity hazing resurfaced in the public eye following the death of John Matthew Salilig, a third-year college student at Adamson University, during initiation rites in March.
This prompted rights advocates, including the Commission on Human Rights, to demand that Republic Act 11053, or the anti-hazing law, be strictly enforced, particularly by the Philippine National Police and the Commission on Higher Education.
