Manila, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has taken the U.S. by storm, and in style.
Bill Gates built his own backyard rope and pulley mechanism to douse himself with a bucket of ice. LeBron James took the challenge aboard a yacht. Lady Gaga used a pure silver bucket in place of plastic.
Now, the runaway social media campaign originally intended to create greater ALS awareness and raise money for ALS research has crossed the Pacific and has made landfall in the Philippines.
Filipino celebrities are beginning to take up the challenge. Tony Award-winning singer Lea Salonga is among the latest to accept the challenge. In her Facebook page, she has asked her fans for suggestions on who to challenge next. Kris Aquino’s name came up of course.
In an exclusive interview with The Adobo Chronicles, Aquino, the sister of Philippine President NoyNoy Aquino, said that she will gladly accept the challenge from Salonga or anyone else – whichever comes first.
But Aquino wants to accept the challenge in style and doesn’t want to be outdone by the American celebrities. She says she will douse herself with a yellow bucket of ice in the front lawn of Malacañang palace (the official presidential residence in Manila), wearing a yellow raincoat. Yellow is the official color of the political opposition in the Philippines which started during the time of the late President Cory Aquino.
“By wearing a yellow raincoat, I will be hitting the bird with three stones,” she said. “First, I will fulfill the Ice Bucket Challenge. Second, I will be promoting a possible second presidential term for my brother. Third, I will not ruin my new short hair style.”
Asked if she knew what ALS stood for, she quickly retrieved her smart phone from her yellow purse, logged on to Wikipedia, and proudly said “Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis!”