100 University of the Philippines students participated in the yearly Oblation Run

Members of a fraternity at the University of the Philippines held their annual ritual of running naked on campus six months early on Wednesday — by official request — to celebrate the state-run school’s centennial anniversary. Hundreds of cheering students lined the main campus avenue, jostling for positions with their digital and cell phone cameras.

The “Oblation Run” — named for the university’s iconic symbol of a naked man with outstretched arms that symbolizes his selfless offering of himself to the nation — started in 1977 as a gimmick by the Alpha Phi Omega fraternity to promote the screening of a movie about oppressed plantation workers called “Naked Hero.” The film had been banned by the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

Since then, the fraternity has used the stunt to make political statements, from raising AIDS awareness to demanding the resignation of the Philippine president, said Armand Padilla, a fraternity alumnus and organizer of the centennial run.

He said the university’s centennial committee requested the fraternity stage the annual nude demonstration as one of the activities to mark the school’s 100th foundation year. Read the rest of this entry »

Did you know that Philippine Independence has been declared six times between 1895 and 1946?

Yes indeed! The first declaration was on April 12, 1895, which was a Good Friday, when Andres Bonifacio, founder of the Katipunan declared Philippine Independence inside a cave called Bernardo Carpio in Montalban (now renamed Rodriguez) in Rizal Province.

There, Bonifacio wrote on the cave’s wall “Long Live the Philippine Independence.”

For the second time, Bonifacio and his Katipuneros on August 23, 1896 tore their “cedulas” and declared “Mabuhay ang Kalayaan ng Pilipinas” at Pugad Lawin, now part of Quezon City which was created in 1939.

The third one was on October 31, 1896 and was presided by General Emilio Aguinaldo in Kawit, Cavite.

He issued two declarations – one for all Filipinos to offer their blood (life) for freedom, and the second, declaring to the whole world that the country was free and independent. Read the rest of this entry »

Philippine Mango is the World’s Sweetest Fruit

What can be considered as the world’s sweetest mango is produced in the island province of Guimaras. While other countries have different varieties of the tropical mango (Mangifera indica), none of them tastes like the superbly delicious Guimaras mango, which is a variety of the popular Carabao Mango (Manginera indica).

In 1995, the Guinness Book of World records listed the Carabao Mango as the sweetest fruit in the world. In the Philippines, mango ranks third among fruit crops in production, next to banana and pineapple. The country supplies mangoes to Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and recently the United States. In 1995, the Philippines produced 432,322 metric tons of mangoes, with an average production of 6.35 metric tons per hectare and 250 kilograms per tree from a total production area of 68,056 hectares.

The carabao mango that made the Western Visayas Island-province of Guimaras famous has created an appetizing first-bite impression among Australians, the Mango Information Network under the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD) reported. Read the rest of this entry »

One of the World’s Greatest Football Player ever was a Filipino

Paulino Alcántara Riestrá (born in Iloilo City, Philippines, October 7, 1896; died Barcelona, Spain, February 13, 1964) was a Filipino/Spanish footballer who played for FC Galeno, FC Barcelona, Bohemians of Manila, the Philippines and Spain. Alcántara is still the youngest player to play and score for FC Barcelona in a competitive game. He played for the club between 1912 and 1927, scoring 357 goals in as many matches and remains the club’s all-time leading goalscorer. Alcántara was also the first Asian-born footballer to play for a European club and will go down in history as the greatest Filipino footballer of all time.

Debut at 15
Alcántara was born in the Philippines to Spanish parents. His father was a Spanish soldier stationed there. He grew up in Barcelona and initially played for FC Galeno before he was soon spotted by Joan Gamper and signed up for FC Barcelona. Read the rest of this entry »