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From what I recall from last year’s Philippine Blog Awards, the Personal category was actually one of the first awards given out last year. I still remember who the finalists were – Bikoy Villanueva, Mae Paulino, Juan Magdaraog, Jessica Zafra and the eventual winner Shari Cruz. A big reason why I don’t have any problem enumerating this list of five  is because I was so obsessed with following the developments of this race that I even wrote a teaser on how I thought the race was going to go down. It was fun pretending that the competition was akin to a presidential tussle or an upcoming prize fight. Maybe my background as a sports writer got the better of me as I tried to tactfully disect each finalist’s strengths, weaknesses and actual odds of winning – all according to my very biased and absolutely not-so-centrist standards.

This year, the personal category was the last award to be presented. The way I see it, this category has got to be the most diverse due to its potentially broad definition. The approach to blogging in such a format spans the spectrum of personalities, temperaments, beliefs, cultures and even language of choice. It is possibly the most subjective award in the sense that it judges values that could possibly be actual equivalents. Breaking these virtual ties are  up to the discretion of the judges. If you ask me though, the short listed blogs reads like a very distinguished roster of accomplished individuals. And believe me, if I had enough time, I would go have gone crazy doing bookie work for the blogs in this category. Imagine if the finalists were actually released a week before! No one would admit it but I know a good number of people would lose sleep over the result.

Had I had the chance to deliver an acceptance speech, I would’ve asked my fellow finalists to go up the stage with me.  That’s how even the playing field was for me. And besides, it is personal, right? For this category, the breaks just ended up in my favor and had it been another year or another situation, the result would’ve been different. You can’t even begin compare the blogs in this category. Humor me as I pay tribute to the other finalists who are in my opinion equally deserving. * In no particular order:

If I had the chance to put money (other than myself ) on a blog this year, it would’ve been for Bikoy. When I started blogging in 2006, Bikoy was already a big name because at that point, he has already been blogging for 6 years. In my opinion, his blog has already achieved a certain status by which other personal blogs are measured. But again, that’s my bias talking – it’s hard to judge someone you considered to be a role model when you were starting out.

Fritz is just like Bikoy with slightly more miles on the odometer. He’s a wunderkind around these parts. I’ve never seen anyone capture images with a point-and-shoot camera with such technical precision as he does. And oh, thanks to me, his rebuttal to my now largely forgotten entry will be forever be enshrined in the pantheon of great comebacks of 2008.

UP  Rural High School ownage is upheld with the entry of Helga in the short list. Her style couldn’t be more different than mine. Aside from being a superb writer with plenty of fans from overseas, she’s also… let’s just say she’s definitely easy on the eyes. Her humorous approach to life and the curveballs that goes her way makes her blog very endearing and heartwarming. The styles she employs would absolutely take care of the other parts that need warming.

Speaking of easy on the eyes, no one would have been shocked if Mike Villar won. I don’t know anyone who could make fun of a near-bad-case-of-death experience, this unfortunate incident and other unfortunate  incidents that are too graphic to be mentioned in this family friendly blog. His Atrocities of Friendster series from a couple of years ago elevated him to a something  very close to cult icon and to this day, his umm… star continues to rise.

In terms of influence and overall appeal, AJ is definitely a strong contender. He appeals to a captured demographic but at the same time, he has also crossed over to the mainstream through entertaining entries on his favorite restaurant and his unique take on events. Aside from being a personal blog, AJ has transformed his blog into a portal of sorts – it is now a very dependable source for news about reality shows, fashion and beauty pageants.

When it comes to special interests, Misterhubs definitely fits the bill. His easy going style is definitely a big factor on why he has so many readers and commenters. His blog proves the broadness of the spectrum for personal blogs and should serve as a reminder to up and coming bloggers to just stay the course.

The best thing about Ate Sienna’s blog is that it’s very conversational. Reading her entries feel like you’re talking to someone you’ve known for quite some time. There is such a personal touch to the way she relates her own experiences to strangers. By the time you’ve read a couple, you no longer feel that you’re alien to her world.

I have great respect for people who can write well in Filipino because I struggle to write compositions in the vernacular. Kwentong Barbero’s  humorous approach to blogging feels very organic and relateable. One could surmise that it is the type that would inspire others to improve their grasp of Filipino.

And lastly, if there was a Rookie Of the Year award for blogging, it would definitely gone to Funny Sexy.  If people like her could share her frailties and insecurities, we other mere mortals have excuse to let our hangups get the better of us. Despite all her great assets and skills, she’s very down-to-earth and approachable.

In all honesty, I could’ve lost to any of them and I would’ve completely understood why. We all had very valid and strong cases for the top plum and with the undeniable differences between the entries, it would’ve been very hard to select a clear-cut front runner.

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For finalists and nominees, we all know that the value and credibility of our blogs doesn’t lie solely on winning awards, but let’s not be hypocrites here. Winning is always nice – may it be a small tea cup from a raffle or an award for something you worked hard for. The people who work hard know the first and last person you need to satisfy is yourself. But of course, there will come a time when other people would choose to recognize you for your efforts.

As nominees, finalists and winners, I believe that we are now all ambassadors of blogging for the rest of those unenlightened individuals with the spark to be a potential blogger. Blogging may stand for different things for us, but whether we like it or not, our actions and published work will affect how the greater public would perceive the movement and bloggers in general. The Philippine Blog Awards is a construct with presumably noble intentions and an aim to showcase the best of Philippine blogs as assessed by a board of judges. Of course we have the right to question and criticize the body for irregularities, after all, the PBAs represents the totality of the blogging community as far as the Muggles are concerned, but in the long run, as this becomes more commonplace and blog events like this start penetrating the mainstream, the medium that we have all chosen to be the conduit of our opinions, thoughts and ideas will be more accessible to more and more people. I think most of us would want blogging to be possible for all those who would like to try it. If we value our right to expression, we should also champion moves that would also make for a more conducive environment for the expansion of the blogging community – not only in numbers but also in diversity.

The past year has been a blur to me.  I don’t think I need to re-enumerate the things that I’ve done for my blog’s  and the greater blogging movement’s sake. I’m sure  the other nominees and finalists could same in various extents. As cliche as it sounds, as soon as we are free to do what we want to do and say what we want to say – we will continue to be true to why all blog in the first place.

And oh, I love you Mom. 

Photo courtesy of Carlo Reid

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