MANILA -- With only four days left in the competition, the Puerto Princesa Underground River tops among the 28 entries vying for a spot in the "New 7 Wonders of Nature."
Both the local and global voting community voted for the Filipino natural wonder, making it rank among the top 10 finalists alongside (in alphabetical order) the Dead Sea, the Grand Canyon, the Great Barrier Reef, Halong Bay, Jeita Grotto, Jeju Island, Komodo Island, Sundarbans, and Vesuvius.
“Clearly Asian finalists are strong at this stage, reflecting the way the world is evolving east, and at the same time I know the actual top 7 will change in the coming days. We remain excited and intrigued to see who will emerge as the provisional New7Wonders of Nature on 11/11/11," Bernard Weber, president and founder of New7Wonders, said.
The Puerto Princesa Underground River is the longest navigable underground river in the world. Scientists also recently discovered a sea cow fossil that lived about 20 million years ago.
Days before voting ends, celebrities and personalities such as Christian Bautista, Lourd de Veyra, Tado, Ogie Alcasid, Diether Ocampo, Karylle, Dingdong Dantes unite to help the Puerto Princesa Underground River (PPUR) clinch a spot in the top 7.
Wunderground United, spearheaded by Noel Cabangon, is a movement actively campaigning for the Puerto Princesa Underground River to be part of the New 7 Wonders of Nature through concerts, school tours, and social media.
The public meanwhile was asked to text PPUR to 2861 until Thursday.(Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)