LEGAZPI CITY—MAYON VOLcano’s mild ash explosion Sunday could be an alert signal for its supporters to cast more votes as it slid down by more than 10 notches this week in the New Seven Wonders of Nature online search.
All Philippine candidates—including Palawan’s Tubbataha Reef, Bohol’s Chocolate Hills and Puerto Princesa’s Subterranean River National Park—fell from the top seven list yesterday in live rankings on www.n7w.com.
In the Bicol region, posters campaigning for Mt. Mayon are starting to proliferate everywhere—on streets, airports, Internet cafes, campuses, offices and stores.
Radio advertisements, which are mostly pro bono, have been aired in local stations here.
Albay provincial board member Glenda Bongao, chair of the committee on tourism, said the provincial government is mounting a plan to enlarge the campaign into a national advocacy.
“Here in Bicol, we have encouraged provinces other than Albay to support Mt. Mayon. Even other regions can vote for all Philippine nominees,” Bongao said.
Nini Ravanilla, director of the Department of Tourism in Bicol, said it is time for the government and the private sector to join hands.
She said the tourism department had already launched campaigns in Australia, Canada and the United States to draw support from Filipino expatriates and overseas workers there.
Ravanilla said they are banking on the youth, who are more technologically savvy, not just to vote but to start an online campaign.
The Department of Education and the Commission on Higher Education in Bicol have released memorandum circulars instructing schools to campaign for Mayon volcano.
“We can even create multiple e-mail addresses every week so we could vote as many times as we can,” Ravanilla said.
The results of the seven wonders online search are determined through the number of votes cast on www.n7w.com. Voting is on until Dec. 31.
Kristina Uy Gadaingan, a young professional from Legazpi City, would send text messages and e-mails to friends and post a bulletin on social networking sites such as Friendster and Multiply to campaign for Mt. Mayon.
She said since voters are required to vote for seven candidates, Filipinos should vote for those at the very bottom to push the Philippine nominees up the ranks. Ephraim Aguilar, Inquirer Southern Luzon
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