Sendong-damaged school gets help from Fil-Am rapper apl.de.ap 

As part of his education advocacy, Filipino-American rapper-record producer apl.de.ap of the popular hip hop group "Black Eyed Peas" helped in the construction of a new building for a public elementary school in "Sendong" storm-affected Cagayan de Oro City.   The rapper-record producer—who hails from Pampanga—trooped to the city’s Barangay Balulang on Friday to lead the groundbreaking ceremonies at Balulang Elementary School, which lost 10 of its 27 classrooms and its science laboratory in the calamity. Known for injecting his Filipino roots in the songs released by Black Eyed Peas, apl.de.ap (Allan Pineda Lindo, Jr. in real life) was named special ambassador for education of the iamninoy-iamcory movement of the NCAF last year, an appointment that gave birth to the “We Can Be Anything” project.   The rapper visited Cagayan de Oro after tropical storm “Sendong” (international name: Washi) hit Visayas and Mindanao last December to see the damage in schools there.   He then chose Balulang to be the first beneficiary of “We Can Be Anything,” an advocacy partnership between the apl.de.ap Foundation and the Ninoy and Cory Aquino Foundation (NCAF).   The school, home to some 1,450 students in the area, lost at least 10 students, with only one body retrieved so far. The school also lost more than 7,000 text books, television sets, computer units, and school supplies.   According to the Cagayan de Oro City Schools Division, the total damage to schools amounted to around P17 million. - VVP, GMA News