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IME Magazine recently announced their 2009 Person of the Year—Ben Bernanke, so we here at PHILNEWS.COM decided to follow in the footsteps of that illustrious magazine and ask our readers to choose who should be the 2009 PHILNEWS.COM Person of the Year.

Like TIME, our Person of the Year will be the one who has most affected the events this year. And once again like TIME, the title is "non-honorific," which means that it does not necessarily confer respect or honor to the person chosen. Just as Adolf Hitler and Ayatollah Khomeini were selected men of the year By TIME in 1938 and 1979 respectively, our person of the year need not be a good "guy or gal" either.

So here are our top seven finalists (not listed in any particular order):

1. Gloria Arroyo - President of the Philippines since January, 2001. Managed to retain her seat at the helm despite numerous impeachment complaints and corruption scandals. Mrs. Arroyo now hopes to win a congressional seat after her term as president ends in 2010. 
2. Manny Pacquiao - Filipino Boxing great with seven weight division titles "under his belt," an upcoming fight with undefeated champion Floyd Mayweather in March. Pacquiao is also a 2010 congressional candidate running under the Nationalista Party banner of Manny Villar.
3. Efren Peñaflorida - CNN's Hero of the Year for 2001, for the "classrooms on wheels" he designed so as to bring education to indigent children living in inner city slums.
4. Andal Ampatuan Jr. -  Prime suspect in the Maguindanao Massacre where 57 people—made up mostly of women and journalists—were brutally slaughtered late November of this year.
5. Charice Pempengco - Young Filipina singer who continues to "wow" western audiences with her absolutely marvelous voice. Charice recently outclassed such greats as Whitney Houston, James Taylor, Michael Bublé, Journey, and the Black Eyed Peas to win the "Best Musical Performance" award of the Oprah Winfrey Show.
6. Jun Lozada - NBN-ZTE scandal whistleblower who implicated the President and her husband, along with ranking members of the Arroyo Administration in a multi-billion Peso kickback scheme.  
7. Corazon Aquino - Former president and wife of slain hero Ninoy Aquino, whose death on August 1st elicited a national outpouring of grief, with large street crowds reminiscent of Ninoy's burial and the EDSA People's Power revolution that followed. 

So there you have it. Who among the seven deserves to become the "PHILNEWS.COM Person of the Year?" Remember, choose the one whom you feel has most affected the events of 2009—for good or for bad. Click Here to vote, then send us your comments as you always do. We'll announce the winner before New Years Day.
 

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