The 10th episode aired today Friday, September 26, 2008.

Tribes around the Fire

Around the fire, Kiko nursed his psychological wounds from what Jace did during the first round of the immunity challenge.

Vevh confronted Emerson for his hurtful words.

The Jarakay tribe was also around the fire, but with none of the tension in the other tribe. Patani regaled them with her ambitions of becoming a star, and how she will not change even if she becomes famous. Sasakay pa rin daw siya ng jeep. (She’s still going to ride jeepneys.) Patani was the star of the night, showcasing her dancing and acting talents. It was clearly a fun night for everyone, the first time that they laughed so hard. They were literally rolling around on the sand with laughter.

Naak Contemplates the Council

Discussions turned to the person who will be voted out in the Tribal Council. The various members gave their thoughts on their unnamed choices.

Emerson advised Cris that in the next challenges, they should just do what they want, and that Vehvs needed the prize much less than they did.

Their talk was interrupted when Vehv came back from crab-fishing with a bloody foot. Kiko helped her back into the camp and Kaye applied first aid to the wound.

Rob and Kaye clearly indicated their choice of who should go home. Kaye said “Wala nang iba, eh” (“There’s no one else”).

Emerson seemed to be making last-ditch efforts to make himself useful to the tribe, in order to protect himself from being voted out.

The Naak tribe became very emotional. Zita cried in Vehv’s arms, afraid that she (Zita) would be the one to be voted out.

The emotions continued to the tribal council. The tribe’s feeling about being defeated in the last challenge, and the tensions that they have been feeling within the tribe seemed to boil over in the council. Even the guys JC and Cris shed tears at the thought of having to see someone go.

As expected, Emerson and Vevherly voted to see each other out of the game. Zita’s vote was a surprise, and seemed to be based on who she thought the others wanted out.

In the end, Emerson became the second person to leave Survivor Philippines. In his farewell clip, Emerson was tearful and seemed to appeal to viewers not to judge him too harshly.

Survivor Philippines Fan Question: What do you think were the reasons that the tribe voted Emerson out?

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The 9th episode, which aired on Thursday, September 25, 2008, started with the immunity challenge.

Immunity Challenge #2

The challenge involves bringing back a Thai pillow that’s been buried in the sand. The pillow can be wrestled from the other person. The first pair, Kiko and Jace, cooperated to dig out the pillow together. They then wrestled in the sand, with a break for Jace to fix his shorts. But Jace took advantage of Kiko and ran off with the pillow, to give Jarakay the first point.

The second round had 2 girls and 2 guys from each tribe. Naak won this round by a toe. 3rd round went to Jarakay to give them a 1-point lead. (This challenge was like football in the sand.)

The 4th round involved everyone, but one (because the tribes were unequal in number). The ladies did the digging, while the guys hovered in the background like hulking guards.

The Win

The rules were supposed to be no hurting one another, but Veronica ended up with a bloody nose. Tribemates Emerson and Vevh had a verbal tiff of their own. Jace was pulled out for choking Rob. Cris and Gigit were also out for excessive roughhousing.

Meanwhile, on the sidelines, Cris and Vevh were having a talk. Vevh really had it out against Emerson.

Paolo had his job cut out for him, being the referee for this challenge. Finally, Naak’s Rob pulled the pillow out from under the pile of wrestling bodies. But Marlon pulled it (with Rob) onto the Jarakay mat.

Second immunity win for Jarakay!

Survivor Philippines Fan Question: What did you think of Jace and Kiko’s tussle at the start of the immunity challenge?

Post from: Filipina Soul

We’re now at Episode 8 in our recaps of what’s happened so far. This episode aired on GMA7 on September 24, 2008.

Patani and Nina started the episode, with glimpses of their bonding as they gather food for the tribe.

Food, Glorious Food!

The Jarakay tribe enjoyed their first cooked meal in days. For many, it was probably the best meal they’ve ever had. Gigit said it, “This is life!”.

Over at the Naak Camp, they were still struggling with their efforts to make fire. Their “strike-anywhere” matches didn’t seem to be working. Zita persevered with the task and was finally successful! She said, “Mapaiyak ako sa apoy.” (“I could cry because of the fire.”). The entire tribe finally enjoyed their own meal of cooked rice, with boiled vegetables and crabs that they found nearby. At this point, the camp even seemed to be a picnic.

The ‘Guys Plus One’ Alliance

At the Jarakay Camp, Jace is shown as the initiator of an male-dominated alliance among him, Marlon, John and Gigit with Veronica as the sole girl. Vern didn’t seem to be too thrilled but went along (what else could she do, right?).

The tribe had a meeting, where some of the guys seemed to dislike that Nina had initiated fixing their leaking roof without discussing it with the entire tribe.

Happy Birthdays

Jace brought up the possibility of letting their tribe lose the next immunity challenge so they could vote Nina out.

Kiko and Vehv found out that it was both their birthday (September 1). The entire tribe was in high spirits, teasing and bantering with one another. For Zita, there were really no serious love angles going on. On the surface, everyone seemed to be friends with one another.

Survivor Philippines Fan Question: How valuable do you think Nanay Zita is to the Naak Tribe?

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Episode 6 aired on September 22, 2008. Here’s what happened at that episode:

Of Strategies and Hunger

The members of Naak discussed the tribal council among themselves. Kiko, Rob and JC made a pact among themselves to watch out for one another. Emerson was emerging as the manipulative member of the tribe. And the others were starting to find out about it.

In Jarakay, procurement of food continued to be the primary goal. Hunger was starting to be foremost on everybody’s mind. Nina tearfully said that the experience gave her a better appreciation of even the most basic necessities, like water and salt. Inevitably, the talk turned to food (which made everyone even hungrier!). Jace was starting to realize the possibility that they might have to go the whole 39 days without food!

The Reward Challenge

The challenge for this episode involved paddling a Thai boat to 6 floating paper flowers, and being the first group to stand up platforms out in the water. The reward for this challenge was flint, which can be used to make fire, the most desired item of all!

Kiko shared what he knew of boating, and the Naak tribe seemed to start off well. To balance out the numbers of castaways per tribe, Nikki had to sit this challenge out for Jarakay.

Jarakay was first in their boat, but Naak was first to get their boat moving in the right direction. But Jarakay was first to light their first paper lotus. It was after the first lotus that Naak seemed to fall apart. There was a time when only Kiko was paddling (which of course got their boat nowhere).

Jarakay was way ahead of Naak in lighting their paper flowers. Jarakay got their footstools early, while Naak got their lines even tighter. Jarakay got Veronica on the medium platform first, followed by Nina. Vehverly was first for Naak. This challenge tested the strength of the guys holding the footstools and the girls up, while the girls were tested for their courage in crossing over the water on just the tiny footstools.

Jarakay wins this challenge, and the fire-making flint!

Survivor Philippines Fan Question: Were Kiko, Rob and JC wise to make their pact?

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The new Jarakay Tribe arrived at their camp, and the girls were impressed by the shelter that the guys put together. It seemed that there was better interaction among the new Jarakays.

At the new Naak, the guys made the best of the camp, especially since they were enjoying the presence of the ladies. Zita took the initiative to get the others to improve the camp. According to Cris, some of the guys who formerly did not bother to work in the old Jarakay camp did their share (was it to impress the girls?). Meanwhile, Jarakay members were enjoying the ‘amenities’ in their own camp. Not having to go to Tribal Council meant that they could relax and spend time in the beautiful waters around their camp. However, without fire, raw clams and fish, with uncooked rice, were the still the meal for the day.

At Naak, Rob and Vhev found a common language and Vhev shared her life and challenges with a new-found friend. Rob said that he finds her sweet, lovable and sincere. This is all apparently just a brother/sister type of friendship. Unlike over at Jarakay, where Veronica (Vern) and Jace seem to be finding the island atmosphere very conducive to romance. Jace even said that he’s asked her if she has a boyfriend.

Strategies were starting to emerge, with talks of alliances forming. Emerson was working behind the scenes, and seemed to be putting tribe members against one another. Members talked about who should be voted out.

When night came, Naak gathered at the first Tribal Council. Chev, Zita and Cris shared their heartfelt dreams and plans for their families, and why they were happy to be in Survivor Philippines. Kiko was all praises to the former all-male Jarakay tribe.

JC confessed that he would rather have stayed in his old tribe. Vhev was emotional about the tribes being reshuffled and having to be separated from Nikki. Chev said that values family background was among her basis for voting a person out. Cris would choose the person who he deemed could not help the tribe.

Rob considers his contributions to be his physical strength and his ability to give comfort to the younger tribe members. Emerson said that his basis for voting would depend on the situation. Rob indicated that he knew who would go home after the Tribal Council.

And that person was… Chev.

Everyone had voted for Chev. A reason given by one of the other tribe members was that she was unable to accept direction from the others. In the end, Chev couldn’t understand the reasons that she was chosen to go home. Her parting words, “I hate you all, guys”.

Survivor Philippines Fan Question: Do you agree that Chev should have been the first one to leave?

Post from: Filipina Soul

Hungry castaways at Jarakay Camp opened this episode. The guys were so hungry that they opted to eat raw fish that was starting to smell. The meal evolved into a test of the strength of each man’s stomach (why does everything have to be a competition with guys, huh?).

The tribal buffs were distributed by host Paolo Bediones. Blue for Jarakay, and red for Naak. The buffs were to be worn at all times in any manner. During the distribution, the castaways were re-shuffled into the two groups. So the tribes after Episode 3 were:

Jarakay: Gigit, John, Marlon, Patani, Nina, Charisse, Veronica, Jace, and Nikki

Naak: Zita, Chev, Vevherly, Emerson, Kiko, Cris, Rob, Kaye, and JC

The challenge for this episode was for immunity for the winning tribe. The challenge was a combination of physical strength and stamina. One member then had to put together a 3-dimensional puzzle. And the winner of this challenge, and immunity, was Jarakay!

Survivor Philippines Fan Question: Did the re-shuffling of the tribes seem fair to you?

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Here was Episode 3, which aired on September 17, 2008:

The focus for this episode was on the all-male Jarakay Camp. They held an impromptu meeting to delegate tasks like finding food and putting up their shelter.

Back at the Naak Camp, the ladies managed to put up a shelter. Though some of them obviously did more work than the others, there was none of the bickering that was present at the guys’ camp. In fact, they seemed to go out of their way to establish friendships.

The Jarakay Camp seemed to be lagging behind! They didn’t even have a proper shelter. At first, there was a lot of talking and complaining about camp members, but not a lot of accomplishments. But in the end, they did eventually get their jobs done. The final task was to try and make fire, a chore that everybody gave a shot at.

As early as this episode, there were already talks of sub-groups forming within the Jarakay camp. Marlon was the prime instigator for forming a sub-group and seemed to be trying to turn the others against Gigit, the group’s de facto leader.

The Jarakay Camp had another meeting, with Gigit giving up the role of leadership/moderator, and Kiko assuming the mantle.

Survivor Philippines Fan Question: Was Gigit right to give up leadership of his tribe?

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That is the tagline of Survivor Philippines, which comes to primetime GMA 7 on September 15, 2008. The Philippine version of the hit reality show will closely follow the format that started in the U.S., including tribes, immunity challenges, and a tribal council. Host Paolo Bediones will take the role of Jeff Probst.

Eighteen castaways will compete to win 3 million pesos and the title of Sole Pinoy Survivor.

Who’s your pick to survive?

Post from: Filipina Soul