WOMEN'S MONTH HONORS 10 MOST SUCCESSFUL, 20 MOST INFLUENTIAL FILIPINAS

Bad news of nuclear meltdowns is balanced by the good news that, as part of International Women's Month, two sets of Filipinas - the 10 most successful and the 20 most influential - have been named on the internet.

In these two lists, only Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago and singer Lea Salonga managed the singular feat of being the most successful and most influential at the same time.

On International Women's Day, March 8, the powerful website Female Network, which has some 4 to 5 million page views per day, released the list of 10 awardees for its first-ever Womanity Award, as follows:

Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, public service; Lea Salonga, arts; Charice Pempengco, entertainment; Jessica Sojo, media; Ana Julaton, sports; Liz Uy, fashion; Raquel Fortun, science; Bing Sibal Limjoco, business; Daphne Oseña Paez, advocacy; Tweetie de Leon Gonzales, special award.

Following on the heels of the Female Network Womanity Awards, the globally famous search engine Google released the list of the Top 20 Most Influential Filipinas of 2010.

The local unit of Google.com said that the choice of the Top 20 was based on the volume of search queries that the internet search engine company received last year.

The Top 20 was released on the week of March 11 to mark the centennial celebration of International Women's Day.

The Top 20 was released as part of Google's yearend Zeitgeist, meaning "spirit of the times."

In a statement, the search giant said that the Top 20 "grabbed the greatest online mindshare in 2010."

Google's Zeitgeist measures a person's "influence" on the web by exploring millions of search queries that it receives everyday.

The search reveals the trends and the top keywords which define the Filipinos' "top-of-mind" in terms of searches.

According to Google, the Top 20 "most influential Filipinos" are entertainers except for a few, such as Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, journalist Doris Dumlao, designer Monique Lhuillier, and TV personality Korina Sanchez.

The Top 20 are: Shalani Soledad, Kris Aquino, Ruffa Gutierrez, Venus Raj, Charise Pempengco, Angel Locson, Sarah Geronimo, Regine Velasquez, Heart Evangelista;

Miriam Defensor Santiago, Lea Salonga, Doris Dumlao, Kristine Hermosa, Toni Gonzaga, Sharon Cuenta, Mariel Rodriguez, Monique Lhuillier, Bea Alonzo, Korina Sanchez, and Nora Aunor.

The only nationally elected public official in the Top 20 is Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, who is on her third and last term as a senator.

Santiago and Salonga are unique, because they are the only females who are included in both the list of 10 awardees for the Womanity Award for most successful Filipinas and the Google Top 20 list for most influential Filipinas.