Inquirer
Last updated 02:16am (Mla time) 06/03/2007
ANGELES CITY, Pampanga, Philippines—Allan Pineda, more popularly known as apl.de.ap of the three-time Grammy Award-winning quartet the Black Eyed Peas, sang, danced and shared life lessons in his new role as kuya (elder brother) to young American-Filipinos or Amerasians who have been abandoned by their US servicemen-fathers.
“Samasan yu ing pamag-aral yu (You should do well in your studies),” Pineda told the youngsters in Angeles City, just outside Clark air field—the largest American air base in the Pacific before the US-Philippine bases treaty ended in 1991.
He spoke Kapampangan so fluently it was hard to believe he had been away for 18 years. The 32-year-old rock star was himself an abandoned Amerasian child, who eventually made it to the United States with the help of a charitable foundation and sponsor.
“Yes, Kuya Allan! We love you, Kuya Allan!” 50 or so young American-Filipinos, aged five to 20, chorused back during a forum held at the Angeles University Foundation here on Friday.
Still shaking off jet lag from Thursday’s flight from Los Angeles, Pineda easily gave in to their requests, singing parts of his group’s chart-busting songs. He also accommodated all the children who wanted to be photographed with him.
Dressed in a black suit and sneakers, Pineda made it known he remained a Filipino at heart.
Aside from talking to the Amerasian children, he has also promised to do two more tasks: Hold a benefit concert, possibly in December this year, after the Black Eyed Peas’ “Black Blue & You World Tour” in 13 countries, and work as endorser for the educational scholarship program of the Pearl S. Buck Foundation Philippines (PSBP) among Filipino-Americans in the United States.
All these he would do, he told the Inquirer, through the PeaPod Foundation, the charity arm of the Black Eyed Peas.
He earlier did benefit concerts for landslide victims in Leyte and tsunami victims in Indonesia.