A cave entrance to the Puerto Princessa Subterranean National Park. Is this the next 7 Wonders of Nature?

There is an interesting discussion about the New 7 Wonders of Nature online poll over at one of the online communities I belong to. The discussion began way back when the voting for the 7Wonders of Nature began; in typical Pinoy fashion, most of the participants in the discussion called on all Pinoys to vote for all the Philippine nominees. Back then, there were four entries from the Philippines, to wit:

1. Puerto Princessa Subterranean River National Park
2. Tubbataha Reef
3. Chocolate Hills
4. Mayon Volcano

In case you missed the goings on, here’s a recap: the New 7 Wonders of Nature is an online contest ran by the same group that conducted the New 7 Wonders of the World contest. The previous contest featured man-made sites, while only natural sites are qualified in the current poll. There are three rounds of voting: the first, a “wildcard” voting where anyone in the Internet can nominate a site (subject to the nominating rules), and the voters pick their favorites. (This is the round that got the most press in local news websites.) The top 77 entries in this wildcard vote will move up to the, well, Top 77 round, which will be reviewed by a panel of experts. Only one entry per country is permitted, except for multi-country sites such as the Dead Sea (which made it to the Top 77). The expert panel will then announce the 28 finalists (on July 21, 12:07 GMT), and only then would the final voting resume until 2011. The Top 7 out of 28 finalists will then be declared as the New Seven Wonders of Nature.

Fortunately, the Philippines’ top entry for the New 7 Wonders of Nature, Puerto Princessa Subterranean River National Park, made it to the Top 77. But I will not vote for Puerto Princesa…yet. If you read the previous paragraph well, you’ll see why: because I simply cannot vote when voting is closed. Read the rest of this entry »