A Filipino was declared the 2009 CNN Hero of the Year! His name is Efren Peñaflorida. I watched the short video clip with Peñaflorida tonight as CNN reported the winner during the ceremony at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood Saturday night. Congrats!
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Efren Peñaflorida won the 2009 CNN Hero of the Year award through online voting (and I voted for this guy last week). According to CNN, Peñaflorida received 2.75 million online votes, the highest among the 10 finalists. He was honored for his “Kariton Klassroom”, which brings education to poor Filipino children.

Did we ever wonder how Peñaflorida got those number of votes in the seven weeks of voting period? It is all because of the Filipino power! Filipinos are good at supporting other people’s achievements if they bring pride to the country. We never hesitate to give our full backing whenever the honor and pride of the Philippines and its people are at stake.

So how did we do our share? We blog. We mention it in forums. We campaign for Efren Peñaflorida in all ways possible. We blog it again. And again until we think the lobbying has already worked.

Count the number of times we have won online voting contests. For instance, why do we often get the “Miss Photogenic” award in international beauty contests, even if there are other women more photogenic than ours? It is the power of millions of Filipinos getting online to vote.

Through consolidation of Filipino effort, we are able to put the Puerto Princesa Underground River among the 28 candidates vying for the New 7 Wonders of Nature, organized by the New7Wonders Foundation. Again, this is Pinoy power in action. The Official Declaration of the New7Wonders of Nature will be in 2011. Should we say, as early as now, that Puerto Princesa Underground River is a huge winner?

When young singing sensation Charice released “Note to God” digitally, Filipinos were ready to purchase the single. The song listed at no.1 in Amazon’s top selling single on that day of release! It is expected that when Charice debuts her first album in the U.S. next year, it will be a big hit.

This is who we are. We are proud of our culture. If there is a chance for anyone of us to be known around the world and bring accolade to the millions of Filipinos, we are willing to dispense full assistance.

Again, congrats to Efren Peñaflorida! The 28-year-old teacher from Cavite City received $100,000 cash to continue his work with his group, Dynamic Teen Company. He also got $25,000 bonus for just being included in the top 10 CNN Heroes.

Watch CNN Heroes TV broadcast on Thanksgiving Day!