MANILA, Philippines—Filipinos just can’t get enough of Manny Pacquiao, it seems.
According to Internet search giant Yahoo!, “Manny Pacquiao” was the most searched term in the Philippines for 2009, edging out the late democracy icon Corazon Aquino who came in a close second.
The data also revealed that many Filipinos remain fixated on controversial issues and celebrities with search terms “Maricar Reyes” and “Katrina Halili” figuring prominently in the Top 10 list for the year.
The results were part of Yahoo!’s 2009 Year in Review report released Wednesday.
According to the company the results emerged from an estimated 150 million online searches this year for the Philippines alone.
Internet pioneer Yahoo! released graphic data showing “Manny Pacquiao” garnering roughly 25 percent of all searches in the Philippines. This was slightly higher than the number of online queries for “Cory Aquino” which hit almost one-fourth of the total.
This was followed by queries for Francis Magalona, Ondoy, Dionisia Pacquiao, Shalani Soledad, Eraserheads, the University Athletic Association of the Philippines, Mar and Korina and the Philippine Basketball Association.
“What is unique to the Philippines is that the boundaries between entertainment, politics and sports intertwine simultaneously, reflective of Philippine culture,” Yahoo! said in an e-mailed reply to the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
In Yahoo!’s celebrity search rankings, homegrown talent came first, the company said.
The list was led by commercial model Maricar Reyes, who was involved in a controversial sex video with suspended cosmetic surgeon Hayden Kho. She was followed by online queries for actress Angel Locsin, Korean performer Sandara Park, Binibining Pilipinas winner Pamela Bianca Manalo, Kris Aquino, actress Marian Rivera, the late singer Michael Jackson, and local celebrities Coco Martin, Anne Curtis and Judy Ann Santos.
The online searches done by people who accessed the Internet from mobile devices such as mobile phones, however, had a slightly different flavor, evidence perhaps of the different demographics of mobile web users.
Here, the top search terms were for the NBA, Katrina Halili, Manny Pacquiao, Marian Rivera, Hayden Kho, Francis Magalona, Citigroup, Michael Jackson, Cory Aquino and the PBA. Daxim L. Lucas
