It is official, Vigan City in Ilocos Sur is now one of the New7Wonders Cities. This is a global voting competition that seeks to preserve man-made and natural heritage sites around the world.
Vigan in a nutshell
Declared as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999, Vigan, known for its cobblestone walkways, horse-drawn carriages and 16th century European colonial architecture, will battle against Barcelona, Beirut, Chicago, Doha, Durban, Havana, Kuala Lumpur, La Paz, London, Mexico City, Perth, Quito and Reykjavik for international votes.
Local officials encouraged all Filipinos to unite and help Vigan become one of the New7Wonders of the World by voting for the city. Being part of this prestigious list of breathtaking sites will not only bring due recognition to the beauty of Vigan, but also boost tourism in the city.
In the country, where majority of Filipinos are still not connected to the internet, the most accessible way to give support to Vigan was via SMS.
Chikka Philippines, the creator of the popular texting application – Chikka Text Messenger, and Vantiv Systems Philippines, the company that organized the voting for the Puerto Princesa Underground River as one of the New7Wonders of Nature, worked hand-in-hand to help Filipinos vote for Vigan just by texting. Powered by the newly launched Chikka SMS API {http://api.chikka.com}, the system allows subscribers to send in as much as ten votes at once.
To vote via SMS, just text KEYWORD to 29290777 {Example: VIGAN10 to 2929077|. Open to all Globe and Smart subscribers, voters can choose from the keywords VIGAN {1 vote for P2.50}, VIGAN5 {5 votes for P10} and VIGAN10 {votes for P15}.
Meanwhile, our fellow Filipinos all-over the world and those online, voted for Vigan via www.new7wonders.com and via the mobile apps. All votes were counted and the New7Wonders was revealed on December 7, 2014.
All About Chikka
With billions of messages exchanged between online and mobile communities since 2001, Chikka ’s flagship Chikka Text Messenger is probably the world’ s first commercially successful integration of web and mobile utilities.
The company has since evolved into an incubator for new technologies and innovation, producing telco-grade platforms and real value-added services for the new digital and mobile generation. Its mission, first stated in 2000, is “to bring together communities, heretofore separated by geographical barriers and differences in technology.”
Points To Ponder
my vote for the New7Wonders Cities
I applaud local companies like Chikka who lent a hand in helping Vigan land a spot in the New7Wonders Cities roster. This beautiful city surely deserves to be part of it and kudos to everyone who helped make this feat possible. All the hard work has paid off as Vigan joins the cities Beirut, Doha, Durban, Havana, Kuala Lumpur and La Paz, to complete the line-up of the New7Wonders Cities. Now it is time to plan that trip to Vigan and discover the many charms it possesses.
both images are from world.new7wonders.com