Cebu, Iloilo, Vigan vie for New7Wonders title

CEBU, Philippines - After the Puerto Princesa underground river was named one of the new wonders of nature, three Philippine cities are now being recognized by Swiss firm New7Wonders, said a report of Yahoo Southeast Asia Newsroom.

The cities of Cebu, Iloilo and Vigan bested more than 200 other cities to be part of "long list" of 77 revealed by New7Wonders President Bernard Weber October 7.

The "long list" of 77 is based on the results of online voting which began in March 2012. More than 300 cities were initially considered from nominations sent from around the world.

"Global in its scope, this remarkable New7Wonders long list reflects the energy and culture of the city at its best," Weber said in the New7Wonders website.

"[C]ities remind us of the possibilities of civilization when, for the first time in history, more than half of the world's population live in cities," he added.

The list of 77 will further be trimmed to 28 and will be subjected to online voting by October 21. The top seven cities will be announced by year-end 2014.

Weber earlier said he hopes the campaign will be a "catalyst for discussing everything from urban planning to metropolitan governance, from tourism to architecture."

The New7Wonders Cities is the third global voting campaign by the Swiss firm, after the man-made New 7 Wonders of the World and the New7Wonders of Nature.

In 2011, Palawan's famed Subterranean River National Park was named as one of the world's New7Wonders of Nature, amid an aggressive campaign by local officials.

Weber said, "My hope is that the New7Wonders Cities campaign will generate debate about the challenges cities face… and how they are responding to them."

The cities of  Cebu, Iloilo and Vigan would have to compete with the following cities so far to be among the New7Wonders Cities: Accra, Ghana; Asuncion, Paraguay; Athens, Greece; Auckland, New Zealand; Baghdad, Iraq; Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei; Bangkok, Thailand; Barcelona, Spain; Beirut, Lebanon; Bethlehem, Palestine; Bogota, Colombia; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Cairo, Egypt; Casablanca, Morocco; Caracas, Venezuela; Cuenca, Ecuador; Chicago, U.S.; Curitiba, Brazil; Cusco, Peru; Doha, Qatar; Dubai, UAE; Durban, South Africa; Edinburgh, UK; Ha Noi, Viet Nam; Havana, Cuba; Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam; Hong Kong, Hong Kong; Istanbul, Turkey; Jakarta, Indonesia; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Kyoto, Japan; La Paz, Bolivia; Lagos, Nigeria; Las Vegas, U.S.; Lima, Peru; London, UK; Mendoza, Argentina; Mexico City, Mexico; Miami, U.S.; Montevideo, Uruguay; Montreal, Canada; Mumbai, India; Muscat, Oman; Naples, Italy; Nadi, Fiji; Nairobi, Kenya; New York, U.S.; Panama, Panama; Paris, France; Perth, Australia; Phnom Penh, Cambodia; Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago; Prague, Czech Republic; Quito, Ecuador; Reykjavik, Iceland; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Rome, Italy; St. Petersburg, Russia; San Jose, Costa Rica; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Santiago, Chile; Seattle, U.S.; Seoul, South Korea; Shenzhen, China; Singapore, Singapore; Surakarta, Indonesia; Sydney, Australia; Tehran, Iran; Tokyo, Japan; Toronto, Canada; Valparaiso, Chile; Vancouver, Canada; Vientiane, Laos; Zurich, Switzerland. (FREEMAN)