apl.de.ap goes home to spread Christmas joy

ANGELES CITY, Philippines – Filipino-American singer Allan Pineda, popularly known as apl. de ap of the Grammy award-winning quartet Black Eyed Peas, does not forget the people who helped him realize his dreams.                                         

What better way to show his gratitude than to pledge a yearly donation to the Pearl S. Buck Foundation Philippines, which helped find him an American sponsor when he was a poor boy in Pampanga, selling yam and charcoal with his mother. 

Before he arrived in the country for the holidays last Dec. 17, he turned over to the foundation a $25,000 donation and promised to send a contribution every year.  

In an interview with The STAR after he distributed gifts to children at the Madapdap resettlement for Mt. Pinatubo eruption victims, Pineda said he wanted to meet with Pampanga Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan to convey his plan to establish a school providing computer literacy for Asian-American children in the province and those from indigent families.        

“If you build it, the others will come. It will inspire other people and they will help me out. But definitely, I will be one of the sponsors every year,” he said.                                                

Pineda encouraged the children from the resettlement site to work hard and continue “dreaming on” to reach their goals. 

Pineda was born in Barangay Sapang Bato in Pampanga on Nov. 28, 1974 and later migrated to the United States with the help of the Pearl S. Buck Foundation.                                

His American father abandoned him and his mother when he was still a child. He grew up with his mother, Filipino foster father, and six half siblings in the barangay. 

He was here upon the invitation of Rosalind Wee, named Woman of the Year by the Pearl S. Buck International in 2009, and other foundation officials.                                   

Asked for his Christmas wish, Pineda replied: “This is my wish; to give help back to the organization that helped me as I was growing up. I’d like to see this done around the Philippines.”                                                                                  

It was Wee who advised Pineda to use his donation for scholarships.                                                                               

“He did not specify for what he wanted the donation used, but my proposal is for the funds to be used for scholarships,” Wee said.

Pineda believes “there’s nothing like Christmas in the Philippines” where his family is, so he will spend it with them in Sapang Bato.

He has even prepared for the people in his barangay who would line up for gifts.

 “The Aeta children will go down from the mountains and I will give them food, clothing and other needs,” he said.

 The foundation’s board director Leticia Yap explained that Pineda’s unusual alias Apl. De. Ap is translated as “Allan Pineda Lindo of Angeles City, Pampanga.” Lindo is the surname of his stepfather. “It’s wonderful that he has such an alias as he achieved international fame,” Yap said.                               

As a young boy in Sapang Bato, Pineda helped his mother pack yams and charcoal that he delivered to customers in the Pampang public market. On weekends, he would sell rice cakes after his classes. Eventually the foundation found him an American who sponsored him in the US where he gained fame as a member of the Black Eyed Peas.