apl.de.ap lends star power to build schools, music programs

Can the next apl.de.ap be found in Zamboanga?

Possibly, if apl.de.ap or Allan Pineda Lindo in real life has anything to do with it. The Black Eyed Peas member hopes his latest collaboration with a bakeshop chain and a natural ingredients company will pave the way for poor children all over the Philippines to have access to education and learn music, too.

At a press conference last week, Pineda announced that his apl.de.ap Foundation has partnered with Red Ribbon and Franklin Baker to build schools all over the Philippines, with the first of these schools to be built in Zamboanga.

Pineda said that this first school, which will benefit over 600 students, will also feature a music program.

“In every classroom we’re gonna build, there’s gonna be a music program and it’s gonna have the same equipment that I use,” he said.

Being an international pop star, Pineda’s desire to incorporate music education into children’s lives is no longer surprising. Last year, his apl.de.ap foundation spearheaded the construction of a music library and studio in the two schools he attended in Pampanga: the Sapang Bato National High School and Holy Angel University.

Pineda speaks passionately about his advocacy for education since it provided him a ticket out of poverty. During the press conference, he spoke about how he would help his grandfather in the farmlands because his family was poor. He said he was only able to attend school in the Philippines through his mother’s persistence and the generosity of donors from the Pearl S. Buck Foundation.

The American foundation eventually sponsored Pineda’s trip to the United States, where he pursued his education, which in turn, helped form the Black Eyed Peas together with will.i.am.

Pineda said that since he owes his success to the education, it is but fitting for him to give back to his country by lending his celebrity status to projects that promote his advocacy on learning.

“I was a kid that grew up in Sapang Bato [Pampanga] and I was given an opportunity. That’s why it’s really important to me to do the same, to give back,” he said.

Drawing from his experience, Pineda said having an education will enable children to become anything they want to be.

“It’s the way out of poverty. My education led me to where I am right now,” he said.

Despite the number of school buildings his foundation has helped build, Pineda does not see himself slowing down on his advocacy anytime soon. Pineda bared plans to build a vocational school and technological university in the Philippines.

It may take Pineda years before his dream of building a university is finally realized, but the plans he has to improve the state of education in the Philippines is definitely music to anyone’s ears. — DVM, GMA News