And then there are those whose love for animals extends to every animal. They picket fastfood chains, they climb fashion runways to protest the use of fur, and they are probably vegetarians out of compassion for animals that are being slaughtered to provide the meat in the human diet.

Members of the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) belong to the second lot. And whether it’s through provocative ads headlined by celebrities like Pamela Anderson or Corey Wills, or through some other protest action, PETA advocates often cause quite a stir.

Yesterday, a dozen or so PETA Asia Pacific protestors clad in stripes and wearing tiger masks converged at the Adriatico entrance of the Manila Zoo to call for the "independence" of the animals kept in captivity. The group decried zoos as cages that developed unnatural behaviors in animals that would have been better off in the wild.

Twenty three year old UP Diliman graduate Jamie Alarcon is on the forefront.

While Alarcon may not be a buxom blonde or a handsome model, she nevertheless has her beliefs — ones that she’s had since her college years — to back her up.

Alarcon’s passion for animal rights began five years ago with her decision to go vegetarian.

"When you’re in college, you’re so issue-driven and you want to change the world, and I thought that fighting for the rights of animals was one of the greatest things to do since they are one of the most disenfranchised and marginalized sector of society," she relates. "When I found out that PETA had a job opening here in the country, I pounced on it immediately because it was an opportunity for me to actually do something."

Alarcon’s actual involvement with PETA began early this year. She started out helping in the photo shoots for PETA’s celebrity supporters. Yesterday’s demonstration was her first taste of real action.

For the much more timid animal advocates, however, Alarcon says that demonstrations don’t always have to be the way to go.

"Do it in your own way," she says. "If you have a companion animal at home, make sure they are spayed and neutered. If possible, go vegetarian. Try to buy cruelty-free products because a lot of our cosmetics are being tested on animals when there is no need for it. Humans are animals too, and to take animal rights to heart works for our own interest."

But in a country that is always on the brink of some form of political upheaval, should the rights of animals still be on the top of the list? Alarcon firmly believes so, saying that fighting for the rights of animals involves so much more than protesting the use of fur.

"Everything in the world is interconnected," she explains. "When you talk about pollution, a lot of it is connected to the meat industry, the fur industry. All that we do for animals goes back to helping humans as well."

PETA’S call to close the Manila Zoo — as well as other similar enclosures — is something that Alarcon firmly believes in. She says that besides putting animals in an environment that is alien to them, zoos do not really serve their function to "educate."

"We get a lot more information from books. As a kid in school, I never used to look at the bits of information that were posted on the zoo’s signs," she relates. "I never knew that elephants could walk for 40 or more kilometers a day. The Manila Zoo elephant only stands up, and even if the elephant walks all over the Zoo, it still won’t be enough for exercise."

Alarcon also says that zoos in general have also failed in preventing animals from going extinct.

"I don’t really think that breeding in captivity works, since a lot of these animals don’t live as long as they should in the wild," she explains. "When eagles are bred in captivity, the people have to use puppets to feed these animals, and when they are released into the wild they look for these humans and have forgotten how to become natural hunters."

Rather than put them in zoos, Alarcon and her PETA colleagues believe that more work should instead be focused on taking care of nature and the ecoystem, since the leading cause of the extinction of animals is the destruction of their natural habitats.

She also says that releasing these animals into the wild would also better equip them for survival rather than keeping them in cages.

"We’re urging the Philippines to be the first zoo-free animal in the region since we are also the pioneers of democracy here in Asia," she says. "Let us also start to work for the freedom of animals."

Standing up for the rights of animals is something that every young individual can achieve, according to Alarcon. She says that her involvement with PETA has taught her that it is possible to be part of the mainstream without having to hurt animals.

"We just want to inform people that it is illogical and useless to hurt animals just for luxury," she says. "It doesn’t take much to fight for animal rights. It doesn’t require any sacrifice at all other than being compassionate."