The 4th Philippine Web Awards (2001)
The 4th Philippine Web Awards was held on November 16, 2001 at the Meralco Theather in Manila, Philippines. It’s the fourth year that IT enthusiasts, web designers and developers vie for the country’s most sought for annual web awards.
The awards is created and organized by THE WEB Philippines (a bi-monthly publication of WS Computer Publishing Corporation, Philippine licensee of the International Data Group IDG).
Best Web Sites
| Category | Site Name | URL |
| Arts | Halfproject.com | http://www.halfproject.com |
| Banking and Finance | Unionbankph.com | http://www.unionbankph.com |
| Celebrities & Personalities | Donna Cruz.com | http://www.donnacruz.com |
| Commerce | Power Books Online | http://www.powerbooks.com.ph |
| Community | WeAreAnime.com | http://www.weareanime.com |
| Corporate | Alchemy Solutions | http://www.alchemy.com.ph |
| Education & Resource | Library Link | http://www.librarylink.org.ph |
| Government & Law | Hangin.org | http://www.hangin.org |
| Home & Living | MomsWorld | http://www.healthyoptions.com.ph |
| Media | GMA network | http://www.igma.tv |
| Music | PhilMusic.Com | http://www.philmusic.com |
| News & Zines | Candymag.com | http://www.candymag.com |
| Organizations | UP Mountaineers | http://www.upmountaineers.com.ph |
| Personal | Skylight | http://nikki.katgyrl.com |
| Portal | The Pinoy | hhttp://www.thepinoy.com |
| Recreation | Shootout | http://www.bhong.com/shootout |
| Services | JobStreet.com Philippines | http://www.jobstreet.com.ph |
| Travel | Lakbay.net | http://www.lakbay.net |
| Weird & Humor | The Sacred Shroud | http://www.pixelworks.com.ph/shroud |
People’s Choice
| Category | Site Name | URL |
| Arts | Lopez Museum Online | http://www.lopezmuseum.org.ph |
| Banking and Finance | Unionbankph.com | http://www.unionbankph.com |
| Celebrities & Personalities | Sharon Cuneta: Megastar Online | http://www.sharoncuneta.com |
| Commerce | Bayantrade.com | http://www.bayantrade.com |
| Community | PinoyExchange | http://www.pinoyexchange.com |
| Corporate | Aboitiz Group of Companies | http://www.aboitiz.com.ph |
| Education & Resource | Philippine Wildlife | http://www.philwildlife.com |
| Government & Law | Philippine National Red Cross | http://www.redcross.org.ph |
| Home & Living | MomsWorld | http://www.healthyoptions.com.ph |
| Media | Monster Radio RX 93.1 | http://www.rx931.com |
| Music | PhilMusic.Com | http://www.philmusic.com |
| News & Zines | Inq7.net | http://www.inq7.net |
| Organizations | UP Mountaineers | http://www.upmountaineers.com.ph |
| Personal | Will I be Time for the Webbys? | http://onlyindavao.com/my webby |
| Portal | PinoyCentral | hhttp://www.pinoycentral.com |
| Recreation | The Official Website of the Phil. Basketball Ass’n | http://www.pba.com.ph |
| Services | JobStreet.com Philippines | http://www.jobstreet.com.ph |
| Travel | Lakbay.net | http://www.lakbay.net |
| Weird & Humor | iSpup.com | http://www.ispup.com |
Special Awards
| Category | Site Name | URL |
| Ericsson Mobile Internet Site of the Year | Lakbay.net | www.lakbay.net/wap/home.wml |
| Yehey! Most Popular Site of the Year | Unionbankph.com | http://www.unionbankph.com |
Original link to access list of winners:
Internet Archive Link 1
Internet Archive Link 2
Special Awards
Compared to the 2000 Philippine Web Awards which had three additional special website awards, the 2001 Philippine Web awards only has two — ‘Ericsson Mobile Internet Site of the Year’ which was given to popular Philippine travel site Lakbay.net for its WAP-enabled mobile website, and the ‘Yehey! Most Popular Site of the Year’ went to Unionbank.ph.
Oldies but goodness, they won again
The 4th Philippine Web Awards had 95 finalists, out of which 13 were repeat winners from the past Web awards years. The biggest winner of them, is yes, PhilMusic.com by Jim Ayson. It won again the ‘Best Website – Music’ category, and also the People’s Choice Music category 4th year in a row. It already had a total of 8 awards for 4 years. No one has defeated it in both the Best Music Website category and People’s Choice Music category for 4 years now.
Even Jim Ayson himself could not believe it, as he says every year there are many new websites being created and launched which could beat his site one day. However, the judges have decided, it still stands as the Best Website for Music.
Other notable repeat winners in this year’s awards are:
- Lakbay.net (which bagged both the ‘Best Website for Travel’ and ‘People’s Choice for Travel’ award this year, apart from the ‘People’s Choice Award’ it got in 2000 and ‘Best Website for Travel’ in 1999)
- DonnaCruz.com (which also won the ‘Best Website for Film/Celebrities’ in 1999, and the People’s Choice Award in the first webbies in 1998). Similar to Ayson, Webmaster Cheryl Fuerte says she also did not expect to win the web awards, with the competition being fiercer year after year, and the contenders getting competitive. But she says she’s prouder than ever to win this year, as this year’s judges include international experts such as Lynda Weinman and Dan Shafer.
- Sharon Cuneta Online (won again in the People’s Choice category of celebrities), it had also won in the People’s Choice category in previous years
- UP Mountaineers re-emerged as a winner again in both the Best Website award and People’s Choice award in the Organizations category
- HealthyOptions is another repeat winner in the Health category
- WeAreAnime.com by Ronald Guanzon is one of the top winners – not just in its own category but also as the winner of the Best Acceptance Speech. Webmaster Ronald Guanzon also won another award that night for RX93.1.
- UnionbankPH, another repeat web awards winner, is the biggest winner of the night, bagging three awards– the Best Website and People’s Choice in the Banking/Finance category’, as well as becoming the ‘Yehey! Most Popular Site of the Year’ (awarded to a site that had received the most number of votes in the People’s Choice Awards.
Webmaster Ronald Guanzon delivering his speech onstage
Here comes the new winners
Glamorously new
This year we see new winners. HalfProject by graphic artist Drew Europeo bagged the Best Website under the Arts category. iGMA also emerged as a winner together with Inq7.net (the newly launched venture between GMA-7 and Philippine Daily Inquirer).
The rise of online communities via popular messageboards enabled sites to have a deeper engagement with its visitors by letting them interact. PinoyExchange.com (popularly known as PEX) won the People’s Choice award in the Community category while WeAreAnime.com emerged as the Best Website winner in that category.
Services-oriented websites suchas PinoyCentral, a new website from ABS-CBN Interactive which aims to reach Filipino expatriates abroad, also won, as well as JobStreet.com.ph, BayanTrade and Library Link.
UAAP is out as it lost to Bhong’s Shootout and the Philippine Basketball Association’s website in the Recreation category. RX93.1 is also a new winner (although its webmaster, Ronald RG Guanzon, is veteran to the awards, winning in a previous web award) as well as websites such as iSpup.com, the Philippine Red Cross, Lopez Museum, and Aboitiz Group of Companies.
The personal category this year did not have any repeat winners like Mike’s World or Inday. Instead, new personal websites such as Skylight and Will I Be In Time for the Webbys won.
International judges – Lynda Weinman and Dan Shafer
Aside from a handful of local experts on web, graphics, and veterans in the Philippine Internet industry, international experts such as Lynda Weinman and Dan Shafer also were judges in this year’s awards.
Lynda Weinman is the graphics and web guru from Lynda.com and wrote a series of books – educational resources for Web developers worldwide. Dan Shafer is President of Shafer Media. Dan began his Web career as the first Webmaster and Director of Technology for Salon Magazine, now salon.com. He then became Master Builder at CNET, and more. He has authored more than 60 books primarily about computers and high technology.
This makes the victory of the Best Website awards category winners a special one, they are judged not just by local standards but by someone who is an international expert on websites.
The 2001 Philippine Web Awards Nominee Logos
Each website that made it to the final nomination round are given this distinction, they can display the nomination icon that will give the website more accolade.
Who are the finalists?
2001 Philippine Web Awards Complete list of Finalists
Ref: Internet Archive Link
Ericsson Mobile Internet Award
ClickTheCity Mobile
eBili WAP
Lakbay.net WAP
MyGlobe – Storit
PinoyCentral WAP
Arts
Eniyu Studio
Halfproject.com
Little Rocket
Lopez Museum Online
Quagmire
Banking & Finance
ABCapital Online
IDSFinance
Philstocks.net
Technistock
UNIONBANKPH.COM
Celebrities & Personalities
DonitaRose.com
Donnacruz.com
Sharon Cuneta: Megastar Online
Stage Crew Band
The Makiling Ensemble
Commerce
eRegalo.com
GC Philippines.com
myAyala.com
Power Books Online
Villman Computer Systems, Inc.
Community
Close-up Planet
Peyups.com
PinoyExchange
Tsinoy.com
WeAreAnime.com
Corporate
Alchemy Solutions
Honda Cars Kalookan
LVN Pictures
Meralco
San Miguel Corporation
Education & Resource
2studyit.com
Bato Balani
eWritelife.com
Library Link
Los Indios Bravos
Government & Law
Hangin.org
National Mapping and Resource Information Authority
National Statistical Coordination Board
Philippine Inter-Agency Committee on Intellectual Property Rights
Philippine National Red Cross
Home & Living
FemaleNetwork.com
MomsWorld
San Miguel Food Culinary Center
Tablenapkin.com
Virtual Pub
Media
ABS-CBN
Gameplan
GMA Network
PinoyTV
The Exchange
Music
Immuseek
Musiko.com
Philmusic.com
Sony Music Entertainment
Titik Pilipino
Organizations
Ateneo ACT 2001: Association for Communications Technology
Haribon Foundation
MEA Online: Ateneo Management Engineering Association
Sysads.org
UP Mountaineers
Personal
Acute.org
Site Jayadewa
Skylight
Swirl Central
Will I be in the Webbys?
Portal
BahayKO
Cybertambayan
MyPhilippines.com
PinoyCentral
The Pinoy
News & Zines
ABS-CBN News
Candymag.com
Generationrice
Inq7.net
MaARTe
Recreation
AutoIndustriya.com
Milo
NBA Live 2Xtreme
Shootout
ToTheGames.com
Services
cell.exchange.ph
EasyCall Communications Philippines
EYP.ph
JobStreet.com Philippines
Match.ph
Travel
GetAsia.com.ph
Lakbay.net
Marsman Tours & Travel
Planetgimmick
Viaje.ph
Weird & Humor
iSpup.com
Olops
Pol’s Page
The Only Gay Eskimo
The Sacred Shroud
Reference of the Official list of Finalists:
Internet Archive Link
Scanned copy / archive of Post-event advertisement:
The 6th Philippine Web Awards (2003)
About the Philippine Web Awards
The 9th Philippine Web Awards (2006)
About The Author
