Guest
WeCanBeAnything is an education advocacy campaign, born of a partnership between the Foundation (AdAF) and the Ninoy and Cory Aquino Foundation (NCAF). The campaign was conceived after (. Allan Pineda), the Filipino-American member of the world-famous Black Eyed Peas, expressed his desire to help improve the education situation in the Philippines. From his own experience, he knew that, for many Filipinos mired in poverty or other difficult circumstances, education is the only long-term ticket to a better life. Unfortunately, millions among the youth are deprived of this ticket to opportunity or drop out of school for a variety of reasons. One basic obstacle is the severe shortage of public school classrooms; the Department of Education (DepEd) estimates the backlog at 66,800 classrooms as of schoolyear 2010-2011, Another factor is the barren environment for learning in many parts of the country due to scarce resources with which to set up libraries and similar facilities. Several organizations have launched programs to address these and many other problems besetting the Philippine educational system. Through his foundation, wants to be able to help some of these programs. On a personal level, he simply wants to tell young Filipinos that he was able to go so far in life because he got an education. To deliver this message, he has composed the song, “We Can Be Anything“, around which a campaign could be built. To give a platform for his advocacy, NCAF appointed him the special ambassador for education of the iamninoy-iamcory Movement in February 2011. Through the WeCanBeAnything campaign, lends his celebrity, music and personal network to rally massive support for key education initiatives, while reinforcing the broader message on the importance of education. Proceeds from the campaign will benefit the Bayanihang Pampaaralan initiative of 57-75 movement for educational reform and the MyLibrary program of Ayala Foundation/ Philippine Development Foundation.
