Women's group to hold election-themed fashion show

A women’s rights group is set to take its election awareness campaign to a new level: by holding a fashion show. Through “Project RunAway: The Election Season Collection," Gabriela party-list group also seeks to remind the candidates and the public of the pressing issues that should be addressed in the campaign that it said has become “increasingly insults-based." “The mudslinging of the candidates in the 2010 elections has taken a turn for the worse," said Lana Linaban, the group’s secretary general, in a statement. “Project RunAway" will feature more than 30 creations from famed designers and artists which will fall under “Fall" or “Spring" collections. The “Fall" collection discusses issues haunting the “runaway" administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, while the “Spring" fashion features the people’s agenda posed for the candidates, the group said.

The group held a photo shoot Wednesday featuring two models who wore two of the gowns that will be featured in the fashion show. It purposely used the Commission on Elections (Comelec) office in Manila as background. One of the gowns used in the photo shoot was black and had compact discs attached to it. The model also wore a belt that bore the words "Not Sorry" and a necklace from which "Hello Garci" hung. The Hello Garci scandal refers to the alleged wiretapped conversations where vote rigging in the 2004 elections was discussed by, among others, a woman presumed to be President Arroyo and man presumed to be then Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano. "With this gown, we remind the people of the electoral fraud Arroyo committed," Linaban said. Linaban said issues like Arroyo's culpability have escaped public attention because of the election season. Other issues to be included under the “Fall" collection are corruption, political patronage, political repression, puppetry, poverty, and violence against women. “Spring" collection on the other hand will include attires that reflect good governance, civil liberties and democratic rights, sovereignty and national patrimony, genuine agrarian reform and national industrialization, women's emancipation, and clean and honest elections. “Expect a show that is both hard hitting and stylish," Linaban said. The fashion show will be held at the Mowelfund Film Institute in Quezon City on Saturday, April 30. - Jacques Jimeno/KBK, GMANews.TV