MANILA, Philippines?The Philippines is the perfect case study for industry surprises. Remember, back in the early 2000?s when texting became popular? Soon the Philippines became known to the world as the texting capital?and it was no joke that Filipinos in the telco industry were granted expatriation elsewhere because they had the experiences of an industry that was five years ahead of everyone else.

Today, another industry surprise is taking place, not in the airwaves of telco towers and mobile phones, but on the Internet: Blogs are big in the Philippines and the Philippines has become a world leader in the blogging industry.

According to a Universal McCann study on new media adoption, the Philippines has had the highest growth rate in blogging engagements in the span of only three years. What?s interesting to note is that the Philippines has exceeded the global average for blog readership (72.8 percent in 2008) during this time, growing from 33 percent in September 2006 to 64 percent in June 2007 and 90.3 percent in May 2008.

Since 2005, the Philippine ?blogosphere? has been active in promoting new careers in professional blogging, which is making a living through blogs, in the same way that writers and editors have professional jobs in the publishing industry. Since then, the blogging community has taken their online connections a step further into the real world, forming real communities of varied demographics. Since then, dozens of blog related events have sprouted. In the Philippines, there is at least one blog-related event per week.

The Philippine Blog Awards were formed in 2007 in celebration of the Philippines as a leader in the blogging industry. The Philippine Blog Awards aim to recognize notable blogs in the Philippines based on content, community and design. The awards, similar to last year, will be judged by representatives from mainstream press, online media practitioners, and crossover media specialists.

The Philippine Blog Awards are the country?s largest aggregation of Filipino bloggers. The awards are run by non-stock, non-profit organization that is currently on its second year of awarding. In the previous year, Philippine Blog Awards gave away 15 awards for different categories. This year, there will be 36 awards, under three divisions and 15 categories.

Since the start of nominations in Q2 2008, there have been over 600 nominations that total no less than 4.5 million page views per month in online traffic.

Apart from giving away more awards, the Philippine Blog Awards are also going to recognize notable online advocacy campaigns started by Filipinos.

There are over 3.7 million Filipinos who are actively engaged in online activities, and 90.3 percent are blog readers.

On Sept. 21, the Philippines will make its voice heard at One Esplanade to celebrate the second Philippine Blog Awards. Since the event recognizes the online efforts of Filipino bloggers in all parts of the globe, there will be a live stream and live blogging sponsored by SMART Bro, allowing Filipinos from all parts of the world to watch.