Shutterbugs flock Oblation, festivities at UP’s 100

For the Oblation, also known as Oble, January 8 must have been one of his recent life’s biggest photo ops, as students discarded the myth of academic delay and had their photos taken with the University of the Philippine’s famous icon.

The naked man has been a favorite subject of photographers – professionals and amateurs alike, and the scene of him welcoming the people with open arms during the kick-off festivities of UP’s centenary made it more symbolic, and shot-worthy.

Celebrating 100 years of excellence, contingents from the different campuses of University of the Philippines System arrived at the Diliman campus with a motorcade that started at the Manila campus, where the first UP unit was established.

The crowd of students, faculty, personnel, and alumni gathered at the Oblation plaza at Quezon Hall, where the afternoon’s program was held in the presence of the iconic statue.

Scenes on record

It was a barrage of shutter clicks as people started taking out their cameras with the aim of capturing that memorable moment. One could see the variety of cameras present: from your basic camera phone and standard point-and-shoot to advanced single-lens reflex cameras, not to mention video cameras that recorded not in stills but in motion.

But Oble was just one of the many subjects that the event has produced for shutterbugs during the celebration. Each part of the event had the crowd shooting away. In fact, shots of the various groups on parade, the College of Fine Arts’ lanterns, the paratroopers, the low-flying helicopter and the fireworks display were a common sight in students’ blogs, websites and profiles days after the kick-off.

“You don't see paratroopers drop off and land beside Mass Comm everyday,” said Ephraim Leynes, 2nd year Community Nutrition student, who recorded the event on video. “I wanted to freeze that moment in time and make it possible for myself to revisit that memory without going through so much,” he added.

Cameramen and photojournalists of networks and newspapers had their viewfinders locked on to Civil Engineer Fernando Javier, the oldest known alumnus who’s as old as the university itself. Photos of the first torchbearer, who passed the flame reaching 99 others, were printed the next day, together with shots of the Oblation and stories of the festivity.

It was also an opportunity to see well-known alumni of the university. One of them, musician and composer Ryan Cayabyab, was sighted at the front of the College of Engineering, having photos taken with batches of star-struck students.

The amphitheatre behind Quezon Hall became the venue for a concert which consisted of musical numbers and dances from chorales and dance groups. UP Pep Squad’s performances brought the audience cheering while Ryan Cayabyab’s number set the mood for the crowd to sing “UP Naming Mahal” with passion as the concert ended.

“It was a great seeing everyone’s arms raised during the song,” said Patrick Alzona, 1st year Malikhaing Pagsulat sa Filipino student.

Beautiful fireworks lit up the sky as the kick-off festivities came to a close. Everybody had their cameras pointed upwards, eager to capture the streaks of light.

The crowd went home, with memories of the event in embedded in their minds and camera’s memory card with the Oblation bidding them farewell. He will continue to stand not just at Quezon Hall but in other campus units and witness more events, not just festivities, which will be written in the history of the country.

Oble will be expecting more visitors in the future. The crowds might not be as big as the UP Centennial kick-off had brought, but they sure will have the naked man with outstretched arms a part of their own special moment.

Of course, more photos will be taken.

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Photos

These were taken during the "kick-off" ceremonies of the UP Centennial Celebration.

For more photos of the event and other works, please add my Multiply account at