I just voted for my favorite finalist in the Democracy Video Challenge, “Long Live the Fearless Man” — a short film produced in the Philippines by Aissa Peñafiel and Miguel Ocampo.

This is one of 18 finalists from more than 900 videos entered from 95 countries in the contest, each of which attempt to define democracy by completing the phrase “Democracy is…” Three of the finalists are from countries in Asia. And this is the only finalist from the Philippines.

So far, the videos entered have been creative, innovative and thought provoking. It shows the wide array of voices and visions about democracy from around the world.

“Long Live the Fearless Man” is one of the 18 finalists. I encourage you to view the films and vote for your favorite. The finalist videos may be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/democracychallenge. Viewers may vote for their chosen video on the same site by clicking on the “thumbs up” beside the video on the YouTube DemocracyChallenge channel. The prize for the winner is an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., New York, and Hollywood.

Voting ends at midnight on June 15.

Like other animal lovers, I cheered when President Obama and the first family took their time picking the pet that was right for their family. In their case, that was a Portuguese Water Dog. As a diplomat whose career forces a move every few years, my pets have been cats. Their size makes them easier to travel with and they can adapt to any size housing with ease.

In the course of Earth Day activities, I got to meet the pets of a friend — snakes and green iguanas. It was my first up-close experience with snakes. And while I don’t think you will find me taking a pet snake anytime soon, my friend made the very good point about respect for all kinds of animals.

Aquarium fish are popular pets in many parts of the world. As a source for small clown fish (”Nemo”), and other aquarium fish, Philippine aquarium fishermen face special challenges in providing to a growing market for these fish without depleting stocks. USAID sponsored an important program to help the fishermen collect the aquarium fish in responsible ways, form cooperatives for better marketing and improve packing/shipping for improved revenues. I recently had the chance to snorkel with some of these fisherfolk in Coron for a wonderful demonstration of how effective this program has become.

As a university student, I was lucky enough to land an internship in the office of a U.S. Congressman. I spent a summer watching and learning about the legislative process and about the issues that matter to constituents. It was my first real “office” experience and a great chance to see the U.S. Congress at work.

Here in the Philippines, the U.S. Embassy, through USAID, has partnered with the Philippine House of Representatives to offer internships for young Muslim leaders from the Mindanao region of the Philippines. These talented young leaders not only spend 13 weeks as interns at the Philippine House of Representatives, but their program includes a three-week governance course at Mindanao State University and a 12 day course in Public Policy at the University of the Philippines. To date 168 young people have completed this internship.

For those who see a future in business rather than government, the American Chamber of Commerce offers an innovative program each year to bring gifted student leaders from across the Philippines to Manila for a week of tours, meetings and training with American businesses. I met with this year’s batch of 28 students and found them everything you would expect future business leaders to be – energetic, innovative, curious, smart and hardworking.

All of us cheered when Philippine boxing star, Manny Pacquiao, scored a knock out in the second round against highly acclaimed boxer, Ricky Hatton. Pacquiao comes from General Santos City, in the Mindanao region of the Philippines. Manny was nice enough to come to the U.S. Embassy Christmas party a year ago and gave us all an inspirational speech about U.S.-Filipino friendship. He pointed out that he is a Filipino through and through but trains and fights in the United States. He highlighted the work that the United States has done to spur development in his home town. He was charming and humble and made us all proud of our friendship. And now he is yet again, World Champion. Simply the best.

Last week was “All Star” week for the Philippine Basketball Association. The PBA traveled to cities across the Philippines with the All Star team playing other Filipino basketball stars. The final night featured contests (three-point shoot-out, a slam-dunk contest etc) and a game. We all watched in awe as the stars, including some “imports” from the United States, showed their amazing talents. I got to judge the slam-dunk competiton and got teased by my fellow judges for giving high scores to everyone. But they were all so incredibly good! Halftime featured a short performance from one of the Harlem Globetrotters. I remember watching them as a child. They were talented, funny and kind. We will get to see them live in Manila later this May. I am as excited as I was ever so many years ago when I saw them for the first time.