MANILA, Philippines ? A young man from Cavite who goes around in a push cart to reach out to children in slum areas and teach them reading and writing has been chosen as one of 10 CNN Heroes of the Year, the US cable news network announced yesterday.

Efren Peñaflorida will receive $25,000 in a star-studded gala in November in Hollywood, where he and nine other fellow awardees will be honored for making ?extraordinary difference? in their countries.

One of them will be proclaimed CNN Hero of the Year, based on online voting that started yesterday. The winner will receive an additional $100,000.

Sharing the honor

According to CNN statement, Peñaflorida ?gives Filipino youth an alternative to gang membership through education. His Dynamic Teen Company?s 10,000 members have taught basic reading and writing to 1,500 kids living in the slums.?

The 28-year-old Peñaflorida said he was sharing the honor with the nameless other Filipino ?heroes? who saved lives in the recent calamity caused by tropical storm ?Ondoy? that struck the country.

?This is for all of us, especially for those who became heroes during the calamity,? Peñaflorida told the Philippine Daily Inquirer. ?I am very sure we have many heroes in this country.??

No cable TV

Peñaflorida also led the Dynamic Teen Company in distributing relief goods to Ondoy?s victims in Cavite.

He said he learned that he made it to the Top Ten from his friends who saw the news on cable television.

?We don?t have Cable at home,?? he said, laughing.

?I am happy that we received this great news amid the calamities and the problems we are facing,? he added.

The 10 CNN Heroes were chosen from over 9,000 submissions and selected by an elite Blue Ribbon Panel including former US Secretary of State Colin Powell, actress Whoopi Goldberg, media tycoon Ted Turner, singer Shakira, and Sir Elton John, according to CNN.