Naked Students Protest Education Funding

[matcom]

<snip>

MANILA, Philippines -- A group of young male students ran naked around a crowded Manila university block near the presidential palace Wednesday, saying they wanted to "bare the government's shortcomings" in education funding.

The 15 activists, mostly in their 20s and some with "Education for all" written on their bodies in red paint, snarled traffic and drew giggles from passing females.

At one point, they attempted to cross a barricade on a street leading to the palace, but were stopped by riot police who forced them to briefly parade -- covered only with caps and dark glasses -- in the middle of a traffic-choked road.

They also lay down on the scorching road, some spreading their legs, before a throng of photographers and TV cameramen.

"We are here not to show our bodies but to bare the government's shortcomings," said Leonardo delos Reyes, spokesman of the United Youth Alliance.

They raised placards condemning shortages in the education budget that have caused standards to deteriorate and kept millions of young Filipinos out of school because of a lack of facilities. Reyes said the government was appropriating twice as much money to pay off its huge foreign debt than for education.

The police did not arrest any of the protesters who after the rally boarded a van and left without incident.

http://www.boston.com/news/odd/articles/2005/06/01/naked_students_protest_education_funding/