MANILA, Philippines (PNA) — The fraternal Alpha Phi Omega chapter at the University of the Philippines in Quezon City on Thursday staged its 33rd Oblation Run on campus, the iconic event dedicated this year to the "tragedy” of APO being blamed for blasting incidents in Metro Manila, particularly that near the gates of the De La Salle University (DLSU) on Taft Avenue last summer.

The DLSU incident, allegedly perpetrated by APO member Anthony Nepomuceno, is referred to in the press as the “bar exams blast” because it occurred during the 2010 national bar examinations for prospective law practitioners. Three persons were injured in that incident.

A former call center agent and an APO alumnus of another Metro Manila school, Nepomuceno, had to quit his job because of the pressure of negative publicity.

He was reportedly tagged by an alleged witness who provided the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) with descriptions transformed into a facial sketch.

Since its inception in 1977, the Oblation Run has sought to bring to the awareness not only to students but also to the general public the burning issues of the day.

“It is a run for ideals,” APO-UP said.

"Justice for Alpha Phi Omega, justice for the bar blast victims,” cried the runners as they circled around the campus of UP, the country’s premier State university.

”As our brothers ‘streak through storied history,’” never before has an issue directly affected the fraternity as the present witch hunt, APO said in a statement e-mailed to the Philippines news Agency. “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.”

The APO leadership said “this year’s Oblation Run focused on the direct affront to the honor and dignity of the Alpha Phi Omega (APO) as this ramifies to particular individuals and ultimately to the society at large.”

Among the current high-profile senior APO members are Vice President Jejomar C. Binay, former Solicitor-General Silvestre Bello III and current Lakas-NUCD spokesperson Raul Lambino.

The APO statement castigated Justice Secretary Leila de Lima for “casting calumny” on the international fraternal organization by blaming it not only for the DLSU blast but also for two others in Metro Manila.

After de Lima repeatedly described to the press her alleged suspect, Nepomuceno presented himself before her at the Department of Justice in late October, accompanied by “brods” Binay and Bello III.

De Lima did not have him arrested but entrusted the junior fratman to the Vice President’s custody and with Bello serving as his legal counsel.

“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,” the fraternity cried.

”The tragedy (is that) 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,” they said.

”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.”

”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 mis-identifications of the clearly innocent,’ the fratmen chorused.

De Lima, they said, made matters worse for the APO when she publicly denounced it —without due process- forgetting her persona as a lawyer, a current Justice Secretary and a former Chair of the Commission on Human Rights, the APO accused.