Felmar's Missionary Journey: April 2008

Monday, April 28, 2008

CHOCOLATE HILLS IS BACK!!!

After its sudden disappearance from the top ten and from the list of the official nominees for the New Seven Wonders of Nature, the Chocolate Hills of Bohol is now back with a vengeance! As of April 29, 2008, 9 am (Manila Time), it occupies the 9th spot, side by side with another Philippine natural wonder, the Tubbataha Reef, occupying the 8th spot for three consecutive days. The Underground River is now on the 48th spot.

Gov. Erico Aumentado filed the formal nomination and the city government of Bohol officially confirmed it. The Bohol Chronicle said that "It was through Bob Galang, a native of Carmen town and now residing in the US, that the organizers of the N7W search gave the procedure for the reinstatement of Chocolate Hills in the rankings. Nadja Rahal of N7W Foundation asked for the setting up of an Official Support Committee (OSC) for Chocolate Hills to be back in the campaign. Galang coordinated with Carmen Mayor Manuel Molina to sign and submit the OSC document to the N7W Foundation."

The Chocolate Hills is an unusual geological formation. It is composed of around 1,268 perfectly cone-shaped hills, all about the same size, spread over an area of more than 50 sq km The hills are covered in green grass that turns brown during the dry season, giving them the name ''Chocolate Hills.''

To vote for Chocolate Hills: Click here

To check its ranking in the Top 77: Click here

THE WONDERS OF TUBBATAHA REEF

As of April 28, the Tubbataha Reef maintains its 8th position for two consecutive days in the global campaign for the "New Seven Wonders of Nature." The N7W website only showed one tiny picture of the nominees. Now, I painstakingly searched the net to look for the best pictures of our Tubbataha Reef to encourage more voters.

Thanks to Stephanie Kleine who posted these pictures in the pbase.com.

To vote for Tubbataha Reef: click here

Hundreds of Tubbataha Reef pictures are available here:

According to Cebu News Daily, The Manila city council passed a resolution urging Filipinos to vote online for the Tubbataha Reef in Palawan as one of the "New Seven Wonders of Nature."Manila District 2 Councilor Numero Lim who authored the resolution said, "We Filipinos love to vote, that's why in beauty pageants like Miss Universe we usually win the Miss Photogenic award. So why not make our votes count in something [that] can help to promote the Philippines?"

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

CHOCOLATE HILLS: OUT OF THE "NEW 7 WONDERS OF NATURE" RACE???

Oh my God! I have been in panic for days now! Today, i surf the net to find answers why the new7wonders website does not provide the weblink of the Chocolate Hills of Bohol anymore. When i checked the site today(April 24), Tubbataha Reef of Palawan is already at the 7th position while the Underground River occupied the 102nd, a far climb from its 200th position last week.

Of all the entries from the Philippines, Chocolate Hills occupied the top post. In fact,

starmometer website reported that as of April 18, 2008, Chocolate Hills was 6th, only two spots ahead of Tubbataha Reef, which occupied the 8th spot. Now, this is the explosive: if you surf the new7wonders website, you cannot find a trace from the great entry of Bohol. It's nowhere in the top 77 Live Ranking page!!!

The Bohol website is also flooded with inquiries about its sudden disappearance. Can anyone explain?

Monday, April 21, 2008

SVD BISHOP WINS PRESIDENTIAL RACE

Dubbed as ''Bishop of the Poor'', Fernando Lugo made history as the first Roman Catholic bishop elected president of a country. Lugo, ended more than six decades of one-party rule in Paraguay with a mandate to help the nation's poor and indigenous.

According to wikipedia.org, Lugo was ordained a priest of the Society of the Divine Word on August 15, 1977 and was ordained Bishop of San Pedro, Paraguay on April 17, 1994. Following his presidential aspirations, Lugo resigned as ordinary of the Diocese of San Pedro on January 11, 2005. He had requested laicization in order to run for office. However, the Holy See instead suspended him from exercising ordained ministry, but did not dismiss him from the clerical state.

In his speech, he said, "I invite Paraguayans of all political types, even the ones who don't share our ideals, to help this country that was once great be great again. This is the Paraguay that I dream of — of many colors, many faces."

VOTE FOR NEW 7 WONDERS OF NATURE

Have you heard of the New 7 Wonders of Nature Campaign? Contrary to the 7 Wonders of the World, this one is about “natural” development, meaning it’s not man-made like the Taj Mahal or the Great Wall. It’s about 100% unadulterated, unalienable, unalterable, pure nature's goodness.

New7Wonders Founder and President Bernard Weber notes, “We are finding the New7Wonders of Nature campaign to be excitingly different from the first one. So many breathtakingly beautiful, natural places are still quite unknown to many. From waterfalls to fjords, rainforests to mountain peaks, freshwater lakes to salt flats, we are discovering together the incredible beauty and variety of our planet.”

I know that Mount Mayon and Chocolate Hills are nominated but their webpage is not available. For the meantime, I would like to campaign for the our available natural wonders.

Tubbataha Reef

Tubbataha Reef is an atoll coral reef in the Sulu Sea that belongs to the Philippines. It is a marine sanctuary protected as Tubbataha Reef National Marine Park. The reef is composed of two atolls, North and South Reefs. Each reef has a single small islet that protrudes from the water. The atolls are separated by a deep channel 8 kilometers wide. Over one thousand species, including many that are endangered, can be found at on the reef. These include manta rays, lionfish, tortoises, clownfish and sharks.

To see more wonders at the Tubbataha Reef, click the link below:

Tubbataha Picture Gallery

To vote:

Click Here

Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park

The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park is located about 50 km north of the city of Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines. It features a limestone karst mountain landscape with an 8.2 km. navigable underground river. A distinguishing feature of the river is that it winds through a cave before flowing directly into the South China Sea. It includes major formations of stalactites and stalagmites, and several large chambers. The lower portion of the river is subject to tidal influences. The underground river is reputed to be the world's longest. At the mouth of the cave, a clear lagoon is framed by ancient trees growing right to the water's edge. Monkeys, large monitor lizards, and squirrels find their niche on the beach near the cave.

To vote:

Click Here

Voting continues until December 31, 2008. Remember, you have to vote for 7 world natural wonders. As of April 22, 2008, Asia's natural wonders dominate the top 12:

1. Ha Long Bay - VIETNAM - Asia

2. Cox's Bazar, Beach - BANGLADESH - Asia

3. Ganges, River - BANGLADESH/ INDIA - Asia

4. Amazon River, River/Forest - BOLIVIA/BRAZIL/COLOMBIA/ECUADOR/PERU/VENEZUELA - South America

5. Mount Everest, Mountain - NEPAL - Asia

6. Mount Fuji, Mountain - JAPAN - Asia

7. Pinnacles Desert, Desert - AUSTRALIA - Oceania

8. Ein Gedi, Oasis - ISRAEL - Asia

9. Tubbataha Reef - PHILIPPINES - Asia

10. Coatepeque Lake, Crater Lake - EL SALVADOR - North America

11. Big Sur, Beach - UNITED STATES - North America

12. Lomas de Lachay, National Park - PERU - South America

To see the live ranking, click the link below:

Click Here!!!

vote now and be part of making history!!!

JOURNEY TO THE TAAL CRATER

Yes, I am back in the blogosphere! I had a very nice vacation in some islands here in our country. I spent most of my time with my family and also visited some of our relatives. But this time, I would like to share our Pantas Class adventure, together with Fr. Raul and Fr. Ronnie as we journeyed through the waters and hiked for hours just to see the crater of the world famous Taal Volcano.