Robredo is ‘WikiPinoy of the Year’

The Late Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – After a month-long voting process, the public has chosen the late Interior Secretary Jesse M. Robredo as the WikiPinoy for 2012, according to a local online, free content encyclopedia group.

With 86% of all the votes cast, it was a landslide for Robredo, said WikiPilipinas.Org, which bestows the WikiPinoy of the Year to the person who made a great impression on the public during the year.

“A WikiPinoy will not be content just sitting behind an office desk. A WikiPinoy is proactive – just like Robredo,” the group said in a statement.

“Though we are devastated by his sudden death, he left us with his own brand of leadership-Tsinelas, focusing on simplicity and humility as embodied by Robredo with his signature plain white shirt and slippers,” it said.

Robredo was known to conduct on-ground public service wearing his slippers – in contrast to the formal ensemble of more traditional politicos.

Ranking second and third, respectively, are free reading advocate Hernando Guanlao, and the Proud to be LGBT Campaign Network.

Voting for the WikiPinoy of the Year lasted for the whole month of December via a Facebook Poll App, with voters choosing from a list of 12 nominees which included Agaw Trip Komiks, Jessica Sanchez,

Miriam- Defensor Santiago, Brian Viloria, Dolphy, Ramon Bautista, Brillante Mendoza, Richard Yap, and Kesz Valdez.

WikiPilipinas.org is the biggest collaborative writing project in the Philippines with over 60,000 articles in English and 6,000 articles in Filipino.

It hosts WikiPilipinas, an online, free content encyclopedia on the Philippines.

In addition to encyclopedic entries on history, culture, sports, government, media, entertainment and other knowledge areas, the site also features stories like Top 10 Malls in the Philippines, Top Beaches, Top Online Shops, and Ultimate Hunks, among others.