Apl.de.Ap pays it forward

CEBU, Philippines - Ever the philanthropist, international Filipino-American music artist Apl.de.Ap has embarked on another noble undertaking to further his cause of making education accessible to as many Filipinos as possible.

Apl (real name Allan Pineda Lindo Jr.) of the Grammy award-winning group Black Eyed Peas was in Cebu last weekend to launch “Macaroons for a Cause,” his partnership with Red Ribbon bakeshop and the Franklin Baker Company, which targets to sell around 4.2 million packs of macaroons. For each P50-pack of macaroons sold in all Red Ribbon bakeshops nationwide, P7 will go directly to the cause.

Proceeds will be used to help build a public high school that will groom students in arts and technology in Zamboanga. Once opened, the school will benefit more than 600 students.

The rapper, along with Franklin Baker CEO Jaime Santos and a student beneficiary of his Apl.de.Ap Foundation in Zamboanga City, also participated in last Sunday’s Cobra Ironman 70.3 in Mactan to promote their advocacy to a wider audience.

“I think it’s part of my duty as a peace ambassador. With opportunity comes prosperity and peace. This is my way of improving access to education,” said Apl who is also one of the country’s Peace Ambassadors, a designation appointed by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process.

The 38-year-old native of Angeles City, Pampanga has always been a staunch advocate of education. “I believe that education is the ticket out of poverty and with education you can be anything. I am an example of that because back in the days, just by simply learning English, I was able to tell my story to my adoptive father and he took interest in me. I wouldn’t have been able to do that without getting an education and learning English in expressing myself,” Apl.de.Ap said.

“I encourage everyone to please support our cause by purchasing one of these macaroon packs and to spread the word as well. They’re not only delicious, you’ll also be helping build a school in Zamboanga,” he added.

Apl also took the opportunity to call on Cebuanos to support his team in ABS-CBN’s “The Voice Philippines,” where he acts as coach along with Lea Salonga, Sarah Geronimo and Bamboo.

“We’ve finished the battle rounds and we’ll do the live shows next. It’s so hard to pick. The next part will be out of my hands since it will be all about the voting, so I’m encouraging everybody to vote for whomever they like in Team Apl. Every single artist that I picked has their own unique voice and I’m very proud of that,” the worldwide hip-hop icon stressed. (FREEMAN)