BC girl's bikini protest upsets Philippines

Ashley Fruno of Cloverdale, British Columbia, seldom passes up a chance to shed her clothes in her fight against animal cruelty.

This time, her naked truth rally took her to the Manila Zoo in The Philippines, where she joined other protesters from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals to pose for photographers while wearing heart-shaped signs that read "Have a Heart, Boycott the Zoo" over their skimpy bathing suits.

But The Philippines, like other Asian nations before that will not tolerate her antics, has threatened Fruno with deportation if she does not stop protesting in Manila.

The Philippine immigration chief warned all foreign activists that they can be deported for taking part in protests after the demonstration by Fruno and her bikini-clad PETA posse.

Local media reports quoted Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan who said the activists — from Canada, Australia and Argentina — violated the conditions of their tourist visas and would be deported if they did not stop.

The four women were identified as Fruno of Canada, Katrina Lugartos of The Philippines, Fawn Porter of Australia, and Maria Salom of Argentina.

"They cannot just protest here, especially if it violates the culture of Filipinos," he said. "Foreigners should have no business joining these mass actions because it is tantamount to meddling in our country’s internal affairs."

Furno countered that there is nothing in their visas to prohibit protesting. She also contends that the bikinis were tame compared with what can be seen widely on television and in magazines in The Philippines.

"It won’t stop our protests, and it won’t stop us from speaking for animals," she added.

Norfolk, Virginia-based PETA is known for staging untraditional protests and taking out provocative ads to raise awareness about animal rights.

In 2006, Fruno, 23, and two other animal rights advocates — Sonia Astudillo of The Philippines, and Jason Baker, an American citizen based in Hong Kong – were apprehended by Singapore police after they received calls reporting that the trio had been "behaving suspiciously."

They were ordered to leave the country.

The trio had planned a demonstration outside a local KFC restaurant in which they would wear nothing but a banner reading, "Naked Truth: KFC Tortures Chicks."

"We think that Singaporeans have the right to know what happens to chickens before their dismembered bodies wind up in KFC buckets," said Fruno, on the PETA website. "We were treated like criminals, when the real crime is the way that KFC tortures millions of helpless birds."

One month earlier, the group angered Thai authorities after a protest outside a KFC restaurant in Bangkok.

Descended from Fraser Valley farmers, including a grandfather who was president of the local rodeo board, Fruno is steadfast in her fight for animal rights at age 7, she said she found a vein in a chicken nugget and instantly made a connection between her own body and the corpse on her plate. At 14, she led a petition drive to stop a local pet store from giving away live animals as prizes.

Fruno, who is now well known as an animal rights activist, has stood naked outside department stores to protest the selling of fur, debated the seal hunt on network TV and urged people to boycott the Cloverdale Rodeo in her own hometown.

In interviews published by local newspapers, she said she spends two to three hours a day organizing demonstrations, writing letters to government and the media, and mobilizing people on behalf of animals.

She has been punched, had food thrown at her and is regularly assaulted verbally for her beliefs.