Puerto Princesa Subterranean River no. 1

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.

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