On its 33rd staging, the Oblation Run remains the iconic ideal of the University of the Philippines – offering oneself to others. Since its inception in 1977, the Oblation Run has sought to bring to the fore the burning issues of the day – be it for the benefit of the studentry and the university, or of society as a whole. However, this year’s Oblation Run will focus on a direct affront on the honor and dignity of the Alpha Phi Omega as this ramifies to particular individuals and ultimately to the society at large.
The tragedy that was the 2010 Bar Exams Bombing spawned another tragedy which directly affected Alpha Phi Omega as an organization: the tragedy of a Secretary of Justice pinpointing APO as the perpetrator of the dastardly deed even before all angles of the incident has been exhaustively investigated and intelligently discarded. It was, after all, Sherlock Holmes who said, in the “Sign of the Four” that “when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” To further cast calumny on Alpha Phi Omega, the Secretary of Justice questionably blamed Alpha Phi Omega as the perpetrator of two other grenade attacks in Metro Manila and, thereafter, directed the NBI to find the evidence to sustain her determination. This is not justice nor even a parody of justice but a clear case of pseudo-bill of attainder where membership to APO automatically makes one a suspect. The Secretary of Justice makes a mockery of the Blackstonian formulation that “better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer.” This is the reason for the call:
JUSTICE FOR ALPHA PHI OMEGA
The tragedy of blaming Alpha Phi Omega for the incident has spawned a much greater tragedy: that the true perpetrators of the 2010 Bar Exams Grenade Attack will go scot-free, never to face the bar of justice. As the State’s resources are expended on a clearly unjust prosecution, the trail leading to the true architects of the crime becomes obfuscated while the memories of the witnesses, defective as these naturally are, become even more defective as these are diluted by misidentifications of the clearly innocent. And as the trail grows cold and memories fade, the offenders escape unscathed even by the vexations of accusation and prosecution. In the end, therefore, the victims are the true losers which is the reason for the cry:
JUSTICE TO THE BAR BLAST VICTIMS
The greatest injustice of all is that the agency which is tasked by law to determine probable cause makes an accusation before gathering evidence to support the indictment. To make matters worse, the Secretary of Justice publicly denounces Alpha Phi Omega, forgetting her duties, both as THE Secretary of Justice, a FORMER Chair of the Commission on Human Rights, and, most importantly, as a lawyer trained in the intricacies of the law, that the pantheon upon which all rights proceed is that: “No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of the laws.” Equally forgotten is the premier legal presumption of all, which applies in all instances and in all cases that “a person is presumed to be innocent of crime or wrong.” When these rights and presumption are forsaken for the sake of expediency, then we revert to the tyranny of old where the fate of all persons are determined, not by law, but by the will of the individual who rules over his fellowmen. Thus, we plead for –
JUSTICE FOR ALL
As our brothers “streak through storied history,” never before has an issue directly affected the Fraternity as the present witchhunt. Never before has the spirit of defiance and freedom been more apropos than at present where the strong arm of the State has once more been heavily laid
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– that I am sharing, one of our chapter’s most precious and valuable video collection and
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