Oblation Run 2011

The Oblation Run (sometimes referred to as the Ritual Dance of the Brave) is an annual event held by several Filipino chapters of Alpha Phi Omega (APO) in different universities in the Philippines. The event first organized in 1977 at University of the Philippines Diliman to promote Hubad na Bayani (Tagalog for Naked Hero), a play. It draws its name from the Oblation, a statue of a nude man located in every University of the Philippines (UP) campus, which symbolizes "a selfless offering of one’s self to the country." The event is usually done on December 16, and serves as a protest to contemporary national issues. Additional runs are sometimes held in special events, such as the Centennial Run in 2008 where 100 members ran to celebrate the 100th anniversary of UP.

Participants of the Diliman Oblation Run are male APO members numbering 24 on average. Women participating in the event, however, are not unheard of. Runners usually bear masks to hide their identities, and may wear leaves to cover their genitals. They usually hand roses to a number of female spectators.

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Today, I, Nica and Lyza witnessed the Oblation Run. This is my second time watching the run. It was breathtaking (HAHA). There’s a ceremony (I think?) or protest but we can’t hear it because it’s raining and the sound was distorted. When the clock struck 12noon, we began shouting and after minutes of waiting, the naked men appeared. The rain stopped, luckily, but the sun gave its best to make us sweat. They ran around Oble and gave flowers to girls watching around them. Nica received a flower from a naked guy. After the run, we went back to our dorm and in our surprise, we saw the naked guys taking a bath in front of our dorm and I startled because I was at the back seat of the tricycle and the driver slowed down. So almost certainly I saw everything in zoom and they had no masks. We went upstairs to watch them then I shouted “ang lieeeeeeeeeeeeeet!” (small) then hid.

XXXX, Kaye