DILG urges strong finish for country’s bet in ”New Seven Wonders” contest

By MYLES JOSEPH E. COLASITO
November 8, 2011

TACLOBAN CITY  –  To ensure that the Puerto Princesa Underground River (PPUR) lands in the final list of New Seven Wonders of Nature worldwide polling contest, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) is urging LGUs to initiate simultaneous text voting and to facilitate online voting before the contest ends on November 11, 2011 (Friday).

DILG-8 Regional Director Pedro A. Noval, Jr. said the office has received information that PPUR was recently named by Bernard Weber, President and Founder of New7Wonders as among the Top 10 finalists among the 28 entries entering the final week of the campaign.  He credited this to the concerted action by the private sector and the government. “Our LGUs have joined in by adopting the PPUR campaign through flag-raising ceremonies, training, conventions, outdoor advertising, and even in the recent barangay assemblies”, said Dir. Noval.

The Top Ten (listed alphabetically), are: the Dead Sea, the Grand Canyon, the Great Barrier Reef, Halong Bay, Jeita Grotto, Jeju Island, Komodo Island, Puerto Princesa Underground River, Sundarbans and Vesuvius.

However, it was noted that there could still be changes in the final list, as witnessed in the first campaign for the man-made wonders of the world, with competing countries making increased last ditch efforts for the final seven slots.

Thus, a heightened and forceful effort in the last few days by all sectors would ensure that the Philippine entry stays among the leaders in the N7WN campaign, said Dir. Noval.  He said people can show their support by visiting http://www.new7wonders.com/ and following the instructions in that site.

The public may likewise avail of the “Pera sa Kweba” promo initiated by the private sector, which reputedly offers the biggest prize money ever for a text campaign.

The promo runs until December 28 this year. It offers a Grand Prize of P25 million and five consolation prizes of P1 Million each to be drawn on December 30, 2011.  It aims to make Filipinos appreciate why PPUR deserves to be among the finalists of the N7WN contest.

Texters can also win P10,000 in daily draws, P100 thousand in bi-weekly draws and P250 thousand in monthly draws.  To join, just send PPUR to 2861 (all networks) at P2.50 per SMS. You will then receive a confirmation reply for every trivia successfully downloaded.

Each PPUR trivia downloaded before November 11, 2011 entitles the sender to two (2) raffle entries, while those sent and received from November 11 to December 28, 2011 corresponds to one (1) entry.  For its part, DILG (which chairs the PPUR-N7WN campaign task force) is in the process of distributing posters on the mechanics of PPUR Pera sa Kweba to all parts of the country to help in the information drive. Those interested may also visit the official promo website at http://www.puerto-undergroundriver.com/pera-sa-kweba/ for details.