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PHILIPPINES: Hundreds of naked men run in Manila to celebrate their university's 100th anniversary

Record ID: 528315

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Title: PHILIPPINES: Hundreds of naked men run in Manila to celebrate their university's 100th anniversary
Date: 21st June 2008
Summary: (L!1) MANILA, PHILIPPINES (JUNE 18, 2008) (REUTERS) BANNER WITH UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES CENTENNIAL LOGO, LOGO IS RIPPED OPEN BY MASKED NAKED RUNNERS HOLDING FLOWERS AND POSTERS REAR VIEW OF MASKED NAKED RUNNERS CLOSE-UP OF MASKED NAKED RUNNERS MASKED NAKED RUNNERS RUNNING IN UNIVERSITY ROAD SPECTATOR PHOTOGRAPHING MASKED NAKED RUNNER CLOSE-UP OF MASKED NAKED RUNNER'S BUTTOCKS CLOSE-UP OF MASKED NAKED RUNNER WITH MARKER PRINT ON BACK, MARKER PRINT READS: "LOVE YOU 'LAINE" REAR VIEW OF MASKED NAKED RUNNERS UNMASKED NAKED RUNNER OFFERING FLOWERS TO FEMALE STUDENT MASKED NAKED RUNNERS ASCENDING UNIVERSITY BUILDING STEPS WHILE BEING CHEERED ON BY SPECTATORS MASKED NAKED RUNNERS HOLDING FLOWERS AND POSTER, POSTER READS: "SERVE THE PEOPLE" SPECTATORS TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS AND GIGGLING MASKED NAKED RUNNERS HOLDING FLOWERS AND CHANTING FRATERNITY ACRONYM ("APO! APO!") (SOUNDBITE) (Filipino) MASKED NAKED RUN PARTICIPANT SAYING: "Well, this is mainly about the University celebrating 100 years. That's important, and so we decided to stage the Oblation Run that we conduct every year. It is a privilege for us members of the Alpha Phi Omega." MASKED NAKED RUNNERS RUNNING WHILE ACCOMPANIED BY SPECTATORS AND MOTORCYCLES MASKED NAKED RUNNERS RUNNING IN UNIVERSITY ROAD FEMALE SPECTATORS CHEERING AND TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS MASKED NAKED RUNNERS TURNING AROUND CORNER OF UNIVERSITY ROAD WIDE OF MASKED NAKED RUNNERS BEING WATCHED BY SPECTATORS (SOUNDBITE) (English) DOVE SUBINGSUBING, SECOND-YEAR STUDENT, SAYING: "It's very exciting, and I think it's a very liberating thing that we celebrate yearly. And it's definitely different, exciting." FEMALE SPECTATORS TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS MASKED NAKED RUNNERS IN UNIVERSITY ADMINISTRATION BUILDING (SOUNDBITE) (English) CAYETANO SANCIANO, UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES BATCH 1953 ALUMNUS, SAYING: "The naked men running? They get a good exposure." MASKED NAKED RUNNERS CHEERING AND SINGING BESIDE STATUE OF NAKED MAN
Embargoed: 6th July 2008 13:00
Keywords:
Location: Philippines
Country: Philippines
Topics: Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky,Sports
Reuters ID: LVACCLST4MGDRI41F0D45GRWQ383
Story Text: Artists throughout history have glorified the nude human form as a benchmark of aesthetics and symbolism. And while these runners from the Philippines are nowhere near as artistically inclined, they can thrill crowds with the most readily available piece of art there is: their own bodies.
One hundred men ran naked Wednesday (June 18) in a premier state university in the Philippine capital of Manila to commemorate the institution's one-hundredth anniversary.
A hundred members of the Alpha Phi Omega fraternity in the University of the Philippines ran near noontime clad in nothing but hoods and full-face masks. Spectators flocked university roads and buildings to watch at and cheer on the masked streakers.
Long acknowledged as the bastion of political activism and free thought in an otherwise conservative society, the University of the Philippines was established in 1908 through an act of Philippine legislature. Alumni include prominent and influential economists, Supreme Court justices, businessmen, social leaders, and political figures such as Philippine presidents and members of Congress.
The Alpha Phi Omega's tradition of running naked is an offshoot of the university's most well-known symbol: the Oblation, a massive statue of a naked man with outstretched arms representing self-sacrifice for the good of the nation. Members of the fraternity confess that they feel honoured to share the connection with the iconic statue.

"Well, this is mainly about the University celebrating 100 years.
That's important, and so we decided to stage the Oblation Run that we conduct every year. It is a privilege for us members of the Alpha Phi Omega,"
said a masked naked run participant that wished to remain unnamed.
While the naked run is usually reserved for mid-December during the fraternity's anniversary, the university administration requested the fraternity to stage the Oblation Run as part of the centennial celebrations, much to the surprise and delight of many a student and visitor alike.

"It's very exciting, and I think it's a very liberating thing that we celebrate yearly. And it's definitely different, exciting," said second-year student Dove Subingsubing.
Even some of the older alumni share Subingsubing's amusement.

"The naked men running? They get a good exposure," Cayetano Sanciano, a 1953 graduate of the university, wryly notes.
University anniversaries and even centennials may come and go, but these throngs of masked men assure that it will be a long time before their spectators forget about their Oblation Runs and the naked truths they represent.
ENDS.
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