Vigan courts support of Athens, 6 other cities in int’l search bid

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines – Vigan City, the lone Philippine nominee in the search for the world’s New7Wonder Cities, is courting the support of the seven cities that failed to make it to the preliminary elimination earlier this month.

The cities that did not make it to the initial top 21 were Athens, Greece; Casablanca, Morocco; Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam; Kyoto, Japan; Phnom Penh, Cambodia; Prague, the Czech Republic; and Vancouver, Canada.

These cities, according to Vigan tourism officer Edgar de la Cruz, are looking for cities in the top 21 to support in the next elimination round on Oct. 7.

Besides Vigan, those included in the first qualifying round last July 7 are Bangkok, Barcelona, Beirut, Chicago, Doha, Durban, Havana, Istanbul, Kuala Lumpur, La Paz, London, Mendoza, Mexico City, Mumbai, Perth, Quito, Reykjavik, Saint Petersburg, Seoul, and Shenzhen.

Vigan Mayor Eva Marie Medina said they are also expanding their campaign to Philippine embassies all over the world. 

“Let this be a journey where every Filipino shall join hands to bring pride to our country. Let us go beyond the border of our nation to achieve our goal,” she said.

She called on fellow Filipinos from all over the world to continue voting for Vigan by texting VIGAN to 29290777 or via the website www.new7wonders.com.

Vigan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has to hurdle two more qualifying phases for it to be included in the final list. The top 21 will be trimmed down to 14 in the ongoing second elimination phase that ends on Oct. 7. The voting for the final seven will be from Oct. 7 to Dec. 7.