Concert kicks off bid for Palawan river to be named a world wonder
When it comes to the campaign to make the Puerto Princesa Underground River one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature, there are no bitter network wars; just a common aspiration to get together and achieve a worthy goal.
This was what happened last week when various performing artists from rival TV stations banded together at the Quezon Memorial Circle for Tunog Wunderground—a music festival mounted by singer-songwriter Noel Cabangon to encourage more Filipinos to support the bid of the Puerto Princesa Underground River to join the short list of new world wonders.
The free concert attended by over 5,000 fans, including some coming from as far as Bataan, featured Cabangon himself, Ogie Alcasid, Jim Paredes, Dingdong Avanzado, Lolita Carbon, Gloc-9, Nina, Franco, Julianne, Rivermaya and Bituin Escalante, as well as a number of new acts in the scene.
Hosts Tado, Angel and Ramon Bautista of radio show “The Brewrats” kept the party going from 4 p.m. to well into the night that was fortunately spared from rain.
Cabangon told the Inquirer that he organized the entire event as a fitting follow-up to the signing last June 1 of the Green Cities Agreement between Quezon City and Puerto Princesa City, which formalized efforts of both cities to protect the environment and promote ecotourism.
Significant stake
Both cities have a significant stake in environmental protection, since they host sites that are vital to the environment. Quezon City has the La Mesa Dam while Puerto Princesa has the Underground River—one of 28 finalists for the New 7 Wonders of Nature competition, which seeks to recognize the world’s greatest symbols of nature.
“I had help from Ogie (Alcasid) in getting the artists together, but it was not hard to get their support. Many of them are my friends in the industry and they believe in the cause,” Cabangon said.
Aside from the concert performers, the Wunderground United campaign also gained support from actors, newscasters, politicians, filmmakers, athletes and celebrities who encouraged their followers to support the Puerto Princesa campaign.
To support the campaign, vote online at https://www.new7wonders.com/vote-2 or text PPUR and send to 2861. One can also be part of Wunderground United at facebook https://www.facebook.com/WunderU and follow the campaign on Twitter at https://twitter.com/WunderUnited.
Encouraged by the turnout at the concert, Cabangon said the next step was to bring Tunog Wunderground to the different schools to encourage students to vote for the Puerto Princesa Underground River.
For Cabangon, the work has just begun.
