PPUR Officially Included in the New7Wonders

The people of Palawan and the whole Philippines are glad to hear the news that the Puerto Princesa Underground River, or PPUR, is officially included in the new seven wonders of nature. This news was announced by New7Wonders founder and president, Bernard Weber in a meeting in Manila. Included in the meeting are Puerto Princesa City Mayor Ed Hagedorn, New7Wonders Director Jean-Paul de la Fuente and PPUR campaign director Nardz Villafranca.

In November last year, PPUR was listed in the New7Wonders provisional list, which made some people think that PPUR might still be removed when the “New Seven Wonders of Nature” is announced. The announcement made by Weber finally removed those doubts.
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Puerto Princesa Underground River (PPUR).

Vigorous Campaigns for PPUR

The inclusion of PPUR to the final list of seven wonders is the result of the vigorous campaigns made by the government and the private sector. Various national government agencies, like the DENR and the DOT lead the campaign for the PPUR. Telecommunication companies provided the prize money for the “PPUR May Pera sa Kweba” text raffle contest.

Puerto Princesa Mayor Ed Hagedorn, President Noynoy Aquino, and showbiz celebrities also helped in promoting the PPUR to the public.

Big Help to Philippine Tourism

The Department of Tourism (DOT) is confident that the inclusion of PPUR to the seven wonders will boost the country’s tourism. The New7Wonders campaign is an international campaign that gave PPUR a worldwide exposure. DOT hopes that the tourists attracted by the PPUR will also be attracted to other tourist spots of the Philippines.

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Info for this post obtained from GMA News.

Good News: PPUR Among the 7 New Wonders

The online and TV campaigns done by the Philippine government paid off as the Puerto Princesa Underground River (PPUR) was included in the provisional list of the New7Wonders Foundation. Other nature spots included in the New7Wonders provisional list are the Amazon Rainforest, Halong Bay (Vietnam), Iguazu Falls (Argentina), Jeju Island (South Korea), Table Mountain (South Africa).

New7Wonders foundation cited that the given list is provisional. Voting calculation is still being checked and the final list will be announced in 2012 during the Official Inauguration ceremonies. This announcement made by the New7Wonders foundation still places the PPUR and other nature spots in uncertain position because it is not known how the voting calculation will affect the results.

The New7Wonders Foundation is a Swiss foundation founded in 2001 by the filmmaker Bernard Zurich. New7Wonders was inspired by the “7 Wonders of the Ancient World” attributed to Philon of Byzantium.

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Puerto Princesa Underground River (PPUR).

The New7Wonders list started with 440 nature spots located in about 220 countries. The list was trimmed to 77 then to 28 by a panel of experts. Worldwide poll was then opened for the shortlist of 28 nature spots.  Anyone in the world was allowed to vote via telephone, text messaging and online social networks.

The Philippine government and the City Government of Puerto Princesa had been campaigning vigorously for PPUR in the past months. The aim is to boost the tourism industry in Palawan and give more exposure to PPUR.

The Department of Tourism (DOT), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and other national government agencies participated in promoting the PPUR for the New7Wonders list. Three telecommunication companies; Globe, Smart, and Sun; showed their support by offering 25 million pesos prize in the grand raffle draw for those who will vote PPUR via text.

Puerto Princesa mayor Ed Hagedorn is confident that PPUR will be included in the New7Wonders list days before the provisional was revealed. He said that other contenders doesn't have text messaging campaigns unlike the one in PPUR. He believes that this is the advantage of PPUR over other contenders in the New7Wonders.

Well, it seems like being the texting capital of the world has an advantage after all.

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Image of PPUR came from Puerto Princesa government website.

How to Go Around Intramuros

Intramuros is the most historical places in manila, the capital city of the Philippines. The walled city serves as the settlement of the Spaniards during their colonization of the country. The city boasts of a fort (Fort Santiago), churches, old Spanish houses, and antique guns that were mounted during the times when the Spaniards are the master of Manila. One can also find inside the museum that showcases the places where Jose Rizal was interred before he was executed.

Intramuros is one of the top tourist spots in Manila and many people go there to relieve the history the history of Manila and the whole Philippines. The walled city is quite big and is tiresome to travel by foot. Would be visitors of the walled city need not to worry since there are many ways to tour Intramuros.

Go On by Foot

This is the cheapest mode of travel inside Intramuros and the most tiresome. However, there many people who prefer to walk when they are traveling. If you are that kind of tourist, then that is not a problem since Intramuros are pedestrian friendly. When touring Intramuros by foot, it is advisable that you carry a map of the walled city so as to plan the best path that you could take for the tour. It is also advisable to bring an umbrella to avoid being scorched by the midday sun.

Ride a Pedicab
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Pedicab is a bicycle that has a covered sidecar. This is an ingenious way of moving inside Intramuros. Also, the pedicab drivers in Intramuros know the ins and outs of Intramuros like the palm of their hands. For tourists, these pedicab drivers already have their route that they follow to tour their clients. Most of them have pamphlets about the tourist spots inside the walled city.

Pedicabs are hired for 100 pesos hour. You can go to interesting places for two hours while riding the pedicab.

Hire a Kalesa
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Kalesa is the Tagalog word for a horse-drawn carriage. You can ride a kalesa to tour you around Intramuros. However, this is more expensive than hiring a pedicab. Riding a kalesa will give you a feeling that you are traveling Intramuros in the same way that the Spaniards had traveled in it during their days in the Philippines.

Go for a Tour Program

There are many tourist and travel agencies that offer touring services inside Intramuros. This is the most expensive of all mode of traveling inside the wall city. However, the benefits are that the tourist will get a professional tourist guides that know the history of every places in Intramuros. You will ride on horse drawn carriages that are better than the kalesas plying around the walled city.


When going for a trip inside Intramuros, consider the options I have just given out and choose what is the best with regards to your budget and your time. The main goal is to enjoy visiting the place and choosing the best mode of traveling inside the walled city will help in achieving that.


Visit my article about Intramuros in Before the Eastern Sunset. Also, in that blog, I have a new blog post which is about my visit to the Minor Basilica of the Santo Nino in Cebu City.

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Photo of pedicab came from Kat's World 3.