Sen. Sonny Angara, Autism Society of the Philippines president Mona Veluz and SM’s Hans Sy prepare their moves as they shake it up for the K-pop song “Fantastic Baby” at the Angels Walk event at MOA Arena Sunday. BERNARD TESTA, INTERAKSYON.COM
 
MANILA – What do SM chairman Hans Sy, Sen. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara and Autism Society of the Philippines president Mona Veluz have in common, besides their shared advocacy of promoting awareness on autism? They’re all willing to walk, er,  “dance the talk,” so to speak, to show their support for the campaign.

All three were asked to dance to the K-Pop song “Fantastic Baby” of the Korean group BigBang at Sunday’s 16th edition of Angels Walk, the yearly celebration for autism awareness spearheaded by the ASP in partnership with SM Cares, the corporate social responsibility arm of SM Supermalls.

Sunday’s Angels Walk was bigger than usual, drawing in a crowd that jampacked the SM MOA Arena in Pasay City, as it went international for the first time.

Senator Angara graced the event to deliver a speech where he shared the good news: the bill he endorsed, to include athletes with disabilities among those to be recognized by the Phlippine government, is now Republic Act 10699, having been signed into law by President Aquino last month.

There’s also a bill, meanwhile, supported by Rep. Emmeline Aglipay in the House of Representatives, which was approved already by both houses, to deduct 12% of the VAT from the bill and expenditures of PWDs (person with disability) and PWAs (person with autism);  and for their guardians to apply for deductions in their income tax if they have have PWDs and PWAs as their dependents. 

Beyond his informative speech, however, Senator Angara wowed the crowd with his moves, as he and Hans Sy, CEO/president of the SM Prime Holdings Corp. in charge of mall operations, and the ASP’s Mona Veluz gamely accepted the K-Pop challenge.