In an official proclamation event at the Presidential Palace in Manila on Monday 6 June, the President of the Philippines, Beningo S. Aquino III, announced that the New7Wonders campaign to vote for the Puerto Princesa Underground River is to be championed by all government departments across the country.
The Official Finalist certificate for Puerto Princesa Underground River (PPUR) was presented to President Aquino by Bernard Weber, President and Founder of New7Wonders, in front of an audience of government ministers, ambassadors, national public and private sector leaders, and all the major television and print media of the Philippines. The presentation was witnessed by the Mayor of Puerto Princesa Edward Hagedorn, Head of the Official Supporting Committee, and by Jean-Paul de la Fuente, Director of New7Wonders.
President Aquino delivered a rousing and motivating speech during which he said “I urge everyone to take part in this democracy-in-action on behalf of our own environment. Voting will take mere seconds but the benefit to our people will last a lifetime,” Aquino said as he emphasized the importance of supporting PPUR in the contest.
He then proceeded to vote himself online at the newly redesigned www.www.new7wonders.com, and said “It is really up to us to vote through text and via the internet so that we can place the Puerto Princesa Underground River in its rightful throne — among the new seven wonders of nature.” Finally, the President then rallied a mass SMS vote amongst the over 400 invitees to the event whilst saying, “In the Philippines we send two billion text messages a day, all we need is one billion text votes for the PPUR and we can accomplish that in half a day!”
Along with declaring support for the candidature of the PPUR in the New7Wonders of Nature campaign, some important additional discoveries and a significant announcement concerning the environmental status of the city of Puerto Princesa were also revealed during the event at the historic Malacañang Presidential Palace in Manila. These will be featured in future N7W News Room articles.