Last year, ten of the fourteen cited blogs were personal in nature. That caused a lot of people to cry failure of elections. You can’t really blame them. It’s hard to find something ground-breaking on blogs that just contains random rants and not-so-profound commentaries. What gave the project a sense of legitimacy last year was the fact that there were unassailable individuals who made the list. Without really naming names, certain people’s presence in that list alone added the cred that competition needed. People could very well exercise their right to vote and more or less get the results right.

 

If my estimates are to be trusted, the top blogs from last year clinched the first spot with less than 50 votes (maybe even less than 40?). For a competition that lasted 10 weeks, that’s pretty low. Of course, you have to consider that this project had very little press and word only got out during the latter stages. If personal blogs ruled last year, it’s quite clear that the list of ten will be comprised of blogs from a different mold.

 

I mentioned not so long ago that the list of 2009 will be made up of relative unknowns. I was mistaken. This year will be remembered as the year of the group blogs. Already influential forces in the blog community - both those connected offline and those who are formidable online personalities — have banded to create the most intriguing and promising blogs this side of Brian Gorell. They have crossed geographical and blogosociopolitical (yes, I made that up) boundaries to further consolidate their mandate behind a worthy cause.

 

Filipino Voices titrates the best of Filipino flavored commentary in a blog that features opinions from opposite sides of the spectrum. It is easily the most promising blog to have come out in recent years and I can safely say that it will be relevant for years to come. Almost every well-known political blogger, commentary junkie, pundit-wannabe and socio-political essayist have madeit to the roster. The authorship combines the old blood (names withheld) with the new idealistic force of the youth - the youngest writer is nineteen year-old JJ Domingo.

 

You Got Tech is making a strong case as a relevant tech blog by providing practical solutions as opposed to the run-of-the-mill tech reviews that litters most technology-related pages today. The site boasts an All-Star line-up from the best in Manila, Davao and every place in between. Their breadth and diversity doesn’t simply stop in their places of origin, the site also has writers who are authorities in photography, search engine optimization and video blogging. Trivia: Two people from You Got Tech where in the Ten Emerging and Influential Blogs Winners’ Circle last year - Aileen Apolo finished first while Coy Caballes was third. How’s that for star power?

 

Arguably the least celebrated of the “group” blogs would be Visit Sagada - a blog that aims to promote an already popular tourist destination that happens to have no organized online resource prior to the site’s inception. To save people the hassles caused by misinformation and unpreparedness, a small group decided to put up the site to help people know about town of Sagada, Mountain Province and to better prepare them in planning their very own Sagada getaway. Being enthusiasts of Do-It-Yourself traveling, the site encourages visitors to experience Sagada as a backpacker to further appreciate the wonders of Philippines. Foreign tourists have been going to Sagada for decades now, but for some reason, Pinoys have not really been that thrilled to go there. Maybe it’s time that you visited Sagada?

 

As it stands now, these three blogs are among the leaders in the votes halfway into the writing project. None of them would be mistaken for a personal blog and all three have a advocacy niche to cater to - social awareness and civil responsibility, technological evangelism (?) and Philippine tourism.

Manila Foodistas is also a surprise entry to the list. A food blog made it to last year’s list so it’s clear that there’s a market for such blogs in the wiriting project. Manila Foodistas boasts a comprehensive review of popular restaurants made by one of the most tight-knit blog cliques in the scene today.

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Edit: One key demographic that I missed is Mindanao-based bloggers. The writing project could be a perfect opportunity for the bloggers from the south to make their presence felt. Though they’re smaller in terms of numbers, their influence and overall closeness could very well help certain blogs by their de facto leaders to get over the top. I expect no less than two winning blogs from Mindanao and I won’t be surprised if three actually make the cut.

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You may still vote for your favorite blogs by following the mechanics in the Ten Emerging and Influential Blogs post on Influential Blogger. It’s quite unfortunate that the number of participants this year is DOWN from last year. I hope everyone exercises their right to vote!

 

Here’s the current list of front-runners after four weeks.

 

  1. http://www.filipinovoices.com/
  2. http://visitsagada.com/
  3. http://delfindjmontano.blogspot.com/
  4. http://www.davaodeli.com/
  5. http://missingcarlo.filblogs.com/
    http://www.yougottech.com/
  6. http://workwithria.wordpress.com/
  7. http://www.gensantos.com/
    http://manilafoodistas.blogspot.com/
    http://www.mapiles.com
    http://marroxas2010.blogspot.com/
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