Pinoy pride seen on Yahoo! Philippines’s Trending Searches

Pinoy pride filled Yahoo's search logs the past week: the Puerto Princesa Underground River, Independence Day, and Jose Rizal were in the ten trending searches.

1. Puerto Princesa Underground River. The Philippine nominee and finalist in the search for the "New Seven Wonders of Nature" spiked on Yahoo's search logs after President Noynoy Aquino reiterated his call for Filipinos to vote for the subterranean river in Palawan. Citing possible enormous benefits for the country's tourism industry, PNoy asked the people to "place the Puerto Princesa Underground River in its rightful throne" via text and Internet votes.

Local musicians including Ogie Alcasid, Nina, Jim Paredes, Noel Cabangon, Dingdong Avanzado, Bitiun Escalante, and Gloc 9, as well as bands Rocksteddy and Franco also expressed their support for the Puerto Princesa Underground River by performing in the benefit concert "Tunog Wunderground" last June 5. The said concert was organized by the local governments of Quezon City and Puerto Princesa City.

Filipinos may vote for the Puerto Princesa Underground River online at www.new7wonders.com or by texting PPUR to 2861.

2. Coleen Garcia. The young model-actress, who appears opposite Sam Concepcion on ABS-CBN's youth-oriented show "Good Vibes," climbs up Yahoo!'s trending list this week. First seen in a popular Nestea ice tea commercial as the lovely Mattina, she became more visible when she appeared as a substitute judge on "Showtime" last month. She later returned to the noontime show as a guest judge. She has not been voted and is now on her third week.

Coleen's rising popularity is also reflected on Yahoo!'s search logs. She has already appeared four times on Yahoo!'s daily search trends since her first "Showtime" guesting. "I didn't expect things to happen this fast. I thought it will take a lot of time. But it happened much quicker than I thought. Many good projects are coming my way," she said in an interview with Yahoo! OMG! Philippines. (See photos from the interview here.)

3. Demi Lovato. The 18-year-old American singer-actress is back in Hollywood after spending time at a rehabilitation facility. In a recent article for Seventeen magazine, where she is a contributing editor, Demi shared she is working on a new album and described the experience as "therapeutic." She said she hopes "to provide inspiration for girls everywhere who are going through the same issues I've faced." Demi had to quit her tour with the Jonas Brothers last year to address personal issues like an eating disorder, her self-harming habit, and being bipolar.

4. Jose Rizal. It is the 150th birthday of the national hero of the Philippines this June 19, so the media is already abuzz with reports on the preparations for this important occasion. There are exhibits, lectures, fun runs, film showings, book launches, and other activities. The official celebration committee also invites everyone to join the 150,000 people who will offer flowers at the Rizal Monument in Rizal Park. They also hope to gather 150,000 likes for the "150th Birth Anniversary of Dr. Jose Rizal" page on Facebook at www.facebook.com/rizal150.

5. KC Concepcion: The Megastar's daughter and her boyfriend Piolo Pascual have been in the news the past month because of reports that the two have broken up. They have denied it, and KC says they will try to do their best for the relationship. "Forever and a Day," KC's movie with Piolo's friend Sam Milby, opens today in Manila.

6. Independence Day. The Philippines celebrated its 113th Independence Day last Saturday. President Aquino led the celebrations at Emilio Aguinaldo's mansion in Kawit, Cavite. The former president's shrine is the original site of the declaration of independence from the Spanish colonial rule.

Yahoo! Philippines commemorated Philippine Independence Day by announcing the winners of its Pitong Pinoy project, a search for seven modern-day heroes.

7. Miss Philippines Earth 2011. GMA-7 researcher and University of the Philippines alumna Athena Imperial, who represented the municipality of Casiguran, Aurora, bested 49 other candidates in this year's Miss Philippines Earth beauty pageant. The coronation night was held Sunday, June 5 at the Puerto Princesa City Coliseum. The following Monday, Athena and other winners visited President Aquino in Malacañang and expressed their support to the government's campaign to promote the Puerto Princesa Underground River. The 24-year-old titlist will represent the Philippines in the Miss Earth pageant in Thailand this November.

8. NBA Finals. The Dallas Mavericks on Monday bagged their first NBA championship win over the Miami Heat, 105-95, in Game 6. The Mavericks won four of the six games in the series, and its German player Dirk Nowitzki, who played even while he was running a fever during Game 4, won the Most Valuable Player award. In 2006, the Miami Heat defeated Mavericks in the finals. Many Filipinos cheered for the Miami Heat this season because its coach, Erik Spoelstra, is part-Filipino.

9. Rica Peralejo-Bonifacio. As summer comes to a close, the actress and television host, who is always popular among Yahoo! Search users and is an active Twitter user, returns to school. She is currently a literature major at the Ateneo de Manila University. Earlier this year, she exited the morning show "Umagang Kay Ganda, which she co-hosted for three years.

10. Bruno Mars. Could the Filipino-Puerto Rican musician be Bench's answer to Penshoppe's Ed Westwick? Last week, Bench reportedly released a teaser poster of a man floating in space with the accompanying text "bench on mars." Candymag.com notes that the teaser has "the planet Mars in the background and some items that can be connected to the artist like a piano, shades, and a fedora." Bench trended on Twitter Tuesday night due to unverified reports that "Twilight" actor Taylor Lautner — and not Bruno Mars — will be the popular Filipino clothing brand's next endorser.

These trending searches are for June 6 to 12, 2011. Check out the previous Yahoo! Search Trends article, "FIBA Asia, X-Men, and Ed Westwick: Trending Searches on Yahoo! Philippines."