One Blogging Nation!

That is the theme of this year’s Philippine Blog Awards that will now be held nationwide on separate dates of the same month — in October.

For Luzon,  9 October 2009, PETA Theater, Quezon City

For Visayas, 18 October 2009, Ayala City Sports, Cebu Business Park, Cebu City

For Mindanao, 24 October 2009, Pearlmont Hotel, Limketkai Drive, Cagayan de Oro City

*****

The Philippine blogosphere, although relatively new, is growing at immense speeds we’ve never imagined. It is breeding a culture of connectivity through real-time data exchange and the propagation of huge amounts of information that used to sit mainly in our heads, unheard of and unused.

The information revolution has now made it possible to exchange information at the speed of thought. Advices, answers, tips, recommendations and opinions are but a keystroke away.

It is unbridled power. It is the kind of power that if harnessed efficiently and responsibly can do wonders if not miracles.

All of a sudden, everyone knows what’s going on — from “up to the second” news reports to something as mundane as what “you are chewing on” for lunch.

This made possible convergence of audio, video, text — multimedia, to be more relevant because it powers the very lives we now live. Take it all away in just one day and you’ll see how it it can cripple us all. We have grown very dependent on it.

Blogging is evolving. It is not dead as others are claiming. It is simply morphing into something else better, without exactly losing its very essence. Evolve or die, so they say.

The challenge now to those of us who have been immersed online for so very long (internet time is so much different from offline time), is to bring in the “unconnected” community on board, to show them the way, to educate, to enlighten, to help and sustain.

Blogging is not about influencing. It is about using resources at your disposal to contribute to a bigger cause, bigger than “you the blogger”, bigger than “us the online community”, bigger than “us the country”. Let us all contribute to the bigger cause that is the protection, support and continuous development of humanity.

You do not need to blog for Red Cross or the Salvation Army. You only need to blog responsibly and meaningfully. You do not need to blog “heart-wrenching” poetry. You only need to bring value back to the blogosphere and the internet as a whole by making sure what you write attempts to “help” in whatever little way you can.

Help people find vacation spots, dear backpacking blogger. Help people find good eats, dear foodie blogger. Help us laugh away our worries, dear entertainment blogger. Help us see “meaning” in the confounded world of politics, dear political blogger.

Help. Contribute. Blog.

We are bloggers. That is our mantra. (Or at least that’s what I hope.. :)

Congratulations to The Finalists for Philippine Blog Awards 2009!

Hail to the best of the best of the Philippine blogosphere! You are all winners in your own rights. It is our pleasure to have read you and it is our hope that you make us read more. :)

******

Presenting the 2009 Philippine Blog Awards finalists of the nationwide categories…

Best Technology Blog
JaypeeOnline // Blogging News & Reviews
MMO GrindHouse- fueling your daily grind on MMO Games
My Asus Eee PC
Orangeinks
sasa java
Software Critics
TechPinas : The Philippine Technology Blog
The Mike Abundo Effect
The Rookie Blogger
trashman

Best Travel Blog
A Pinay in Europe
BYAHILO: Ito ang Trip Ko!
eskapo
Explore Iloilo
Just Wandering
lagal[og]
Langyaw – Sojourns and Off-the-Beaten Path Travels
Making Things Happen
Nomadic Experiences
sagada tourism guide

Best Entertainment Blog
CONUNDRUM
Film-Otaku
Lessons From the School of Inattention
Music Picks
PH Stars
Pop Reviews Now
Reel Advice Movie Reviews
SHELU89
SHOWBIZCHISMAX
Starmometer
SUGARFREE

Best Personal Blog
ai’s cracker
Baddieverse
bikoy.net
Brief Stories
Cerebral Insights
citybuoy
Excuse My French
fritzified.com
Funny is the New Sexy
Life with Ria
Nursecissism
Platonic Trip
RALPHGUZMAN.ORG
room for squares
Succulence Unleashed
The Casual Observer
The Digitizer
The Free Lancer
writing on air
xtnpl.blog.friendster.com

Best Food & Beverage Blog
A Scientist in the Kitchen
Cebu Restaurants
Flipflopping my way around Town
hungrynez
Kitchen Cow
Our Daily Blog
Overseas Pinoy Cooking
Table for Three, Please
The Thirsty Blogger
Yedylicious: In Between Bites

Best Family & Living Blog
Absolute Cousins
Animetric’s World
BEYOND TOXICITY
Make or Break
MommyCow
occupation: SAHM
Viva La Vida Mama
What is a Progressive School?

Best News & Media Blog
Cagayan de Oro News Online
Daily Contributor
iNews Philippines
Paulnatic
PINOYWORLD
RePress
Virtual Journals

Best Business Blog
BusinessAccent.com
Millionaire Acts
MisOrJobs
Negosyo Ideas
Owning a Café
Pinoy Money Talk
Ready To Be Rich
The Sagada Lemon Pie House

Best Sports Blog
Buhay Basketball
Fire Quinito
i2runner
Lakers Today
Philippine Basketball Blog
Philippine Boxing
Sports and Tech sa Pilipinas
The Duffer

Best Hobby & Recreation Blog
Bearbrick Love
Bored & Crafty
Comicgasm
Comicology: The Study of Awesome
Dance Manila
Flying in Crosswinds
Mad Labs and Hug Dogs
Pinoy Experience Mountain Biking and Outdoor Philippines
Pinoy Mountaineer
The Singing Blogger

Best Fashion Blog
I LVOE LV
My Fashion Juice
Runway2Reality
Style and Relax
StyleAnywhere
THE UKAY QUEEN:Ukayshopping101
Ukay-ukay Escapades
who is elyoo?

Best Photo Blog
Asin at Paminta
dennisvillegas.blogspot.com
Didang Alvarez
Distilling Thoughts
I Am a Documentary Photographer
Lantaw
lawstude.blogspot.com
Lino Photography
My Manila
www.derpinsel.com/noone

Best Culture & Arts Blog
Art in Action
Bookmarked!
Coffeespoons
magnetic-rose.net: Japanese Pop Culture for Filipino Fans
Perlas Design Studio
PinoyTattoos.com – Filipino Tattoo Source
SA GUBAT NG NAMIMINTOG NA PATALIM
Sari-Saring Sineng Pinoy
The Spy in the Sandwich
Views from the Pampang

Best Commentary Blog
ad maiorem Dei gloriam
Alleba Politics
J. R. Ramos Go
Matinong Ehemplo Ng Youth Ehemplo ng Kabataan
Me and My Big Mouth
myepinOy’s bLOG
Pencil Pusher/Number Cruncher
pinoybuzz
riknakem
Splice and Dice
Staedtler
The Marocharim Experiment
Third Wave
Zzaragoza’s Weblog

Best Videocast
Digiputz.com
DoctorDude – Fun Vlogs on Health and Wellness
Entrepbuff.com
Komikero BIDJO

Best Podcast
Brink Notes Entertainment Daily
PINOY POPCAST PODCAST
World 3

Best Humor Blog
Basta…
Chiksilog
Good Times Manila
Hay!Men!
Indolent Indio
Kwentong Barbero
manik makina
Noisy, Noisy Man
Oi! Greenpinoy!
The Professional Heckler
tuyong tinta ng bolpen

Best Gaming Blog
ExcEsc
gameshogun
Mike Got Game!
Pinoy Gaming Network

Best Advocacy Blog
Autism Society Philippines
CyberRon
discourses of a free mind
Fide Quarens Intellectum
Filipino Deaf from the Eyes of a Hearing Person
Filipino Freethinkers
Foreclosure Philippines
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo RESIGN!
Greenpeace Southeast Asia
Nurses Notes

Best Beauty Blog
Candy Blush Beauty Blog
Shen’s Addiction
The Doctor Is vaIN

Below are the finalists for the Special Awards. Stay tuned for the finalists of the Regional Awards, we’ll be announcing them soon.

Special Award: Best Blog Design
Design was here
DigDesignz: Blog of a young Filipino Web and Graphic Designer
GraphiCult
Loy Meets World
Pink is Fab!
Pink Notes Diary
Simon Ong | Personal Blog and Portfolio
The Rookie Blogger
The Site Guy
The Vignette

Special Award: Best Foreign Blog
BakitWhy.com | Filipino American Lifestyle
koji ryan
My Sarisari Store

Special Award: Best Filipino Abroad Blog
AS IS
Baul ni Noel
Digifotoblog
Funny Side Up
IsladeNebz
Lilypad
myepinoy’s blog
Palipasan
PinoyBro
THE MONOLOGUES OF A DESERT DUDE
The Warped Zone

Special Award: Best Filipiniana Blog
Filipino Librarian
pamatay homesik
pilipinokomiks.blogspot.com
Simbahan – Philippine Heritage Churches and Related Structures
The Philippines and Beyond

Congratulations to all the finalists!