WESCOM joins celebration of PPUR’s triumph

ISABELA CITY, Basilan, Nov 17 (PIA) – Soldiers from the different military branches in Puerto Princesa City joined its residents on November 12 in celebrating the news of the inclusion of the Puerto Princesa Underground River in the list of provisional winners of the global search for the new seven wonders of nature.

The 6^th Civil Relations Group of the AFP reported that the announcement was welcomed with fireworks followed by the thanksgiving Mass and unity march, led by local officials of Puerto Princesa, from the City Cathedral to the City Coliseum.

PPUR, along with Halong Bay of Vietnam, the Amazon Rainforest of Bolivia, Iguazu Falls of Argentina, Komodo of Indonesia, Jeju Island of South Korea and Table Mountain of South Africa bested 24 other natural wonders from around the world.

The result was based mainly on online votes and could still change, according to Weber, when the text votes are counted. The confirmation of official winners will be done early next year.

Telecommunications companies are still validating the votes cast which officially closed on November 11.

“We congratulate each participant on achieving provisional new seven wonders of nature status and look forward to completing the confirmation process to celebrate each one in their own official inauguration early on 2012,” Weber said.

The search began in 2007 with more than 400 entries from all over the globe which were cut down to 28 finalists from where the provisional seven winners were selected.

“The victory of PPUR is another history in the making,” Vice-Mayor Lucilo M. Bayron, who led the residents of Puerto Princesa City in the unity march to the City Coliseum, said.

A special task force was created to rigorously promote PPUR and garner votes while the search was on-going.

A week before the voting officially closed, the city government set up a voting center at the People’s Amphitheater in Mendoza Park in a last-minute effort to boost the underground river’s chances of winning in the search.

In coordination with the telecommunications companies, a promo dubbed “Pera sa Kuweba” was also launched where participants could win as much as P25 million pesos by voting for the PPUR through SMS.

PPUR claims to be the longest navigable underground river in the world and features unique rock formations.

A team of Italian scientists announced earlier this year the discovery of a crystal forest in one of the caves in the highest parts of the limestone massif of the PPUR, along with the discovery within the rock caves of the bones of an extinct sea cow species believed to have existed 20 million years ago.

The city government believes the inclusion of the PPUR in the new seven wonders of nature will greatly boost the tourism industry of Puerto Princesa and further improve its economy. (JPA/6CRGAFP/RVC-PIA9 ZBST)