Where's the thank you?

I am happy Efren Penaflorida won the CNN Hero of the year award. His intention to educate the street children is noble. But lest he forgets, he won the award because 2.7 million Filipinos voted for him. Without those 2.7 million votes, the award must have gone to somebody else, even if he was already able to educate all the street children of the Philippines. Yet, I never heard him say thank you to those who voted for him in his interviews. What I hear him say is, "there is a hero in each of us". All I really want to hear from him is something like, "thank you to all those who voted for me. Without your votes, I could not have won this award. I would not have been a hero. So, it's really you who are heroes." Instead, he says thank you to the members of his company and to its volunteers, which I am sure do not amount to 2.7 million people.

Read Sense of Gratitude & Why the CNN Hero of the Year is NOT my Hero.