Jul 9, 2014

Vote for Vigan




VIGAN, Philippines—Residents and netizens in this Ilocos Sur capital woke up to the news that the country’s only heritage city made it to the list of 21 finalists in the new Seven Wonder Cities of the World race.

But they knew that the campaign to push Vigan to the finish line had just started as the fresh round of voting starts on Monday and ends on Oct. 7.Vigan made it to the penultimate round in the search and needs a further boost over the next three months to advance to the final round of voting.

Organizers of the New7Wonders Cities campaign earlier observed that Vigan, a trading port long before the conquering Spaniards arrived in the late 16th century, had been losing steam but got a second wind in the run-up to the July 7 cut-off.

Vigan City Mayor Eva Marie Medina, who was out of the country when the list was released, sent a text message to city employees thanking Bigueños and Filipinos around the world for helping Vigan’s bid.

Vigan, known for its Spanish-era mansions, cobblestone streets and culture, is the lone Philippine candidate in the global competition initiated by the Swiss nonprofit New7Wonders Foundation. The contest aims to preserve the world’s man-made and natural heritage sites.

The foundation was behind the campaign that named Palawan’s Underground River in Puerto Princesa City as one of the world’s New7Wonders of Nature in 2011.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) has placed Vigan in the World Heritage list in 1999, citing the city for its “best practice in sustainable conservation and management of world heritage properties.”

Vigan tourism officer Edgar de la Cruz said the city government is preparing to expand the campaign as it prepares for the next round of voting.

How to vote

The New7Wonders Foundation has made available various channels that allow supporters to rally more votes for their bets.

Aside from using the group’s website (www.new7wonders.com), votes may be cast through mobile applications for Apple and Android devices.

Voting may also be done through text messaging as well as dedicated international telephone lines.

The Switzerland-based foundation has also enabled international phone voting using the following numbers—+881821611990; +881921611990; +349027

35471; +447589975201; +447559121023; and +447559583500.

Meanwhile, feel free to  browse my Ilocos series below. 

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