The Big Apl

“May I please say something?” Don Jaime Zobel de Ayala said suddenly, almost as if he was asking a favor, never mind if he was in a library in the midst of a business district his family had founded. Today, Don Jaime was simply a Filipino attending a press conference of Apl.de.ap or Allan Pineda, a member of the Grammy Award-winning Black Eyed Peas.

“I have traveled the world,” continued the former Philippine Ambassador to the Court of St. James, “and I am sad that when I see Filipinos who do well abroad and I ask them, ‘Pilipino ka ba?’ they say, ‘No.’ That hurts.”

“But I take all that back today,” Don Jaime said, addressing Apl, “because you are exactly what I hope all Filipinos abroad will be.”

For here was Apl, a member of a world-famous American band who could easily hide his Filipino roots.

And yet Apl greeted the press yesterday with a “Magandang tanghali” and proudly declared, “I am proud to be a Filipino.”

Apl jetted in for the 25th anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution and said he was, “proud to be here at an important moment in history.”

He even composed a song especially timed for the silver anniversary of EDSA, and titled it People Power. The song’s lyrics exhort the youth to be the best that they can be, and that includes being a hero if they can. Some lines of the song are in Tagalog and Apl says that he will recruit 20 Filipino youths to sing that part in the chorus when he finally records the song.

The Pampanga-born Apl, 35, said he was “a little boy running around in the rain” when EDSA unfolded 25 years ago, but he knew what was happening and was grateful for the legacy of EDSA.

“Freedom was my platform to dream big,” said Apl.de.ap (an acronym for Allan Pineda Lindo of Angeles, Pampanga) gratefully.

“I have pursued my dream and I believe it is important to give back because I have been given the opportunity to be what I am now. What goes around comes around,” said Apl, who has accepted the role of “ambassador” of the People Power Movement of the Ninoy and Cory Aquino Foundation (represented by its chairman Ballsy Cruz and president Rapa Lopa) and his participation in a classroom construction project of the League of Corporate Foundations.

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Apl.de.ap was born to a Filipino mother and an African American father on Nov. 28, 1974. According to published sources, his father, a US airman stationed at Clark Air Base, abandoned the family shortly after his birth; his mother, Cristina Pineda, raised him and his six younger siblings as a single mother. His grandparents are surnamed “Lindo,” hence his last name.

Apl.de.ap and this writer.

The Pearl S. Buck Foundation, an organization that finds healthier living environments for young abandoned or orphaned Amerasian children, matched him with a sponsor named Joe Ben Hudgens through a dollar-a-day program. He initially came to the United States at the age of 11 to treat nystagmus, an involuntary movement of the eyes. During a trip to Disneyland, Apl expressed his interest in staying in the United States. It would take another three years for Hudgens to officially adopt him, but at 14, he moved permanently to the United States to live with Hudgens.

Apl believes his adoption opened doors for him, but he has never forgotten his roots. It’s a long way from Los Angeles to Sapang Bato, but Apl isn’t one to bury his past.

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Tomorrow, Apl returns to his hometown of Sapang Bato, Angeles, Pampanga to launch two of his own projects aimed at improving literacy and developing the musical abilities of the youth.

Apl has partnered with the Ayala Foundation, the Department of Education, the Philippine Development Foundation, the Holy Angel University and his alma mater — the Sapang Bato National High School — to fulfill his personal mission.

Because of Apl’s desire to give back, Holy Angel University will be home to the Apl.de.ap Music Library and Studio, which will be furnished with musical instruments, interactive software programs and various other materials designed to make learning more dynamic and engaging for students. The library and studio will be accessible to the public.

Apl, who was raised by his mother and grandparents and who still speaks Kapampangan like a native, is also supporting the Sapang Bato National High School by partnering with the Filipinas Heritage Library, a division of the Ayala Foundation.

“We are very excited to partner with Apl.de.ap,” says Vicky Garchitorena, president of Ayala Foundation. “We hope Apl will inspire other people to also give back to the country.”

Vicky recounts that when the foundation was first approached by a representative of Apl, she thought he was a representative of the computer giant, “Apple.” Nevertheless, she is just as excited to partner with this Apl, a boy who dreamed big and, having achieved his dreams, wants to help big.

(For more info on Apl’s initiatives in Pampanga, please call 752-1064 and look for Chiara Cruza.)