MANILA, Philippines—The subterranean river of Palawan will get to compete with other natural sites in the world for a slot in a “New Seven Wonders of Nature” race being sponsored by a Swiss heritage foundation, the Department of Tourism said Wednesday.Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano, in a statement, said the Puerto Princesa Underground River will compete with 261 other national entries in the New7Wonders of Nature race. The 8.2-kilometer river, also known as the Saint Paul Underground Park, is part of the Puerto Princesa Underground River National Park, which was named in 1999 as a world heritage site by the United Nations Educational and Scientific Commission. The results of the first phase of online voting in the official New7Wonders of Nature website, which ended December 31 midnight on the International Date Line (8 p.m. in Manila), were revealed Wednesday at the New7Wonders Foundation headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland, according to Durano. "We are proud to announce that the Philippine marvels have stood strong in the first round of voting. This affirms us of the support of Filipinos as well as other tourists in helping our natural sites make their mark in the global scale," Durano said. "With billions of supporters all over the globe, promotion of spectacular sites from all over the world has been set to greater heights. It is also very important to call on the sustainable promotion of these tourism sites, which are nature's blessings," he added. The organizers are to tally and verify all votes first before online voting is resumed. In a statement, Tia Viering, head of communications for New7Wonders, says "We congratulate the successful qualifying locations from the Philippines and wish them the best of luck in the second phase of voting." "We also at this time highlight the strong and enthusiastic participation of the other national nominees that are not proceeding -- many have already benefited from a significant increase in worldwide awareness, which in itself is a recognized important benefit for all involved in the New7Wonders campaigns," she added. Eduardo Jarque Jr., undersecretary for tourism planning and promotions, said the a Philippine wonder besting others “truly gives us more reasons to strengthen not only the promotion, but the preservation of our natural sites.” The New7Wonders campaign, gaining participation from numerous supporters will “inevitably translate to increased interest in seeing these magnificent places,” he said. “We thank and congratulate all Filipinos who have made their voice heard through the online polls.” The Underground River shares the spotlight with the Coral Triangle, a multinational participant. The Coral Triangle, which features diverse coral formations and species, includes the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and East Timor. Of the original 441 nominees, 180 or more than 40 percent were eliminated as the next stage begins January 7 until July 7, to select the Top 77 -- the pool from which the 21 official finalists would be chosen. The qualified 261 national and multinational nominees from the 222 participating countries feature iconic locations such as the Coral Triangle, the Grand Canyon in Colorado, Scotland’s Loch Ness, Germany’s Black Forest, and Japan’s Mount Fuji. Other entries included the Amazon, the Danube, the Dead Sea, the Great Barrier Reef, Iguazu Falls, the Kalahari Desert, Mont Blanc, and Niagara Falls. Among the Philippines’ neighbors, the selected entries include Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay, Cambodia’s Yak Loum Lake, Brunei’s Tasek Merimbun, Laos’ Nam Ha National Park, Singapore’s Bukit Tima Nature Reserve, Malaysia’s Sipadan Island, Thailand’s Ko Phi Phi Island, Jaco Island in East Timor, the Mergui Archipelago of Burma (Myanmar) and the Mekong River, shared by China and mainland Southeast Asian countries. The N7W panel of experts will select the 21 Finalists from the Top 77, which will be announced on July 21. At that time the third and final phase of voting will begin, and the people of the world will then have approximately two years to vote among the 21 Finalists for the Official New7Wonders of Nature, to be revealed in 2011. Over one billion online votes are projected to be cast in the race. The foundation was established in 2001 by the Swiss-born Canadian filmmaker, author and adventurer Bernard Weber to contribute to the protection of the world’s human-built and natural heritage and to foster respect for the cultural diversity on our planet. | 
