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MANILA, Oct 2 (PNA) - After dropping down to top 20 last month, the
Philippines' four candidates for the New 7 Wonders of Nature are
currently showing a strong presence, landing on the top 11 live online
ranking of 77 nominees from around the globe.
As
of September 29, Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park is at
no. 1, Chocolate Hills is at no. 4, closely followed by Tubbataha Reef
at no. 5 while Mayon Volcano is at no. 11.
The New 7 Wonders of Nature is an ongoing campaign sponsored by the New 7 Wonders Foundation based in Switzerland.
The
same group initiated the New 7 Wonders of the World project last year,
wherein seven new sites were officially chosen after a successful poll
which posted 100 million international votes.
"We
are pleased with the current rankings. But as the finale draws near, we
should be more persistent in urging Filipinos to vote and actively
promote our candidates," Joseph "Ace" Durano, Secretary of the
Department of Tourism (DOT) said.
Although
the competition mandates that only one of the country's nominees will
be included in the official 7, Durano said that having four strong
candidates at this stage is a great boost for Philippine tourism.
"The
whole world is tuned in to this competition. Even if only one of our
candidates remains in the final 7, we have gained so much publicity for
our country as a destination with diverse natural sites," added Durano.
Regarding
the criteria for the nominees, Eduardo Jarque, Jr., DOT Undersecretary
for Planning and Promotions said, "Nominees must meet one of the
following criteria: it must be a natural site, a natural monument or a
natural landscape. There must be no human interference involved in the
creation of the sites."
Jarque
also cited that only a candidate entered by a country's Official
Supporting Committee is considered a certified contender.
"Mayon
Volcano, Chocolate Hills, Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National
Park and Tubbataha Reef are all official candidates," he said.
Some
of the 77 nominees are still waiting for official support, while others
have pending requirements. The rest are multi-national candidates which
await support from each of the country which nominated them, Jarque
concluded.
The
New 7 Wonders of Nature has three stages of competition - the National
Qualification, the Nomination and the Finalist stage.
In
the National Qualification which is ongoing, the country's official
nominee will be determined after all the votes have been tallied on
December 31, 2008.
The
Nomination stage is where countries with no candidates may continue
submitting their nominees until July 7, 2009. During this phase, the
group's Panel of Experts led by Federico Mayor, former Director-General
of UNESCO, will review the top 77 nominees and choose the 21 finalists
which will be announced on July 21, 2009.
The
21 New 7 Wonders of Nature candidates will be competing for the last
time in the Finalist stage that will run from 2009-2010. Each of the
finalists will have a chance to be presented to global voters through
the New 7 Wonders World Tour which will visit and document each of the
21 nominated sites.
The
top sites are: No. 2 Ha Long Bay, Vietnam; No. 3 Cox's Bazar Beach,
Bangladesh; No. 6 Al-hasa Oasis, Saudi Arabia; No. 7 Ganges River,
Bangladesh/India; No. 8 Ali Sadr Cave, Iran; No. 9 Sundarbans Forest,
Bangladesh/India; No. 10 Lake Saiful Maluk, Pakistan. (PNA) |
