Survivor Philippines has just produced its first Pinoy Sole Survivor whe JC Tiuseco was declared winner a few hours ago. In front of a full-packed liv

Survivor Philippines has just produced its first Pinoy Sole Survivor whe JC Tiuseco was declared winner a few hours ago. In front of a full-packed live studio crowd, watched by millions around the country and witnessed by former castaways of the popular reality franchise, the 23 year-old basketball player from the San Sebastian College was awarded the top prize of three million pesos for garnering the most votes from the 8-member jury of castaways. Included in the tally was an extra vote from viewers around the country, the tie-breaker if needed.

JC Tiuseco was the overwhelming choice. He garnered seven out of the nine votes available. Even in the text votes his lead was amazing, getting 93%
of the popular votes from Survivor Philippines' viewers. The prediction was right. The court heartthrob who played the game with integrity as much as intensity ended up winning. But as I was watching the proceedings earlier in the evening I thought the result would be the other way around.

During their last tribal council, when the eight-man jury of castaways were asked to make their finals spiels and comments on the two finalists (and before they cast their votes), JC was lambasted by most of them, and whatever confidence I had that he would end up winning disintegrated. Even former allies on the island didn't have nice things to say about him. Though Rob Sy, the other finalist, likewise received negative comments, I was more concerned that former allies in the group had turned against JC Tiuseco and mistook his homestretch tactics as a betrayal of their trust. It's a good thing they still voted for him to win. On hindsight, I think what we witnessed during the final tribal council was a product of good television editing, and choreography. Producers of the show must have purposely created a scenario of doubt and intrigue to add to the drama and suspense of the finale.

When the votes were being revealed it was the same case. JC and Rob were neck and neck after the first four votes. But after the commercial break, JC ran away with the win by getting the rest of the votes. The producers arranged the vote revelation sequence to provide additional suspense finale drama.

The eight-man jury (composed of eliminated castaways Charisse Yacapin, Cris Cartagenas, Zita Ortiga, Kaye Alipio, Marlon Carmen, Vern Domingo, Kiko Rustia and Jace Flores) voted wisely, in my opinion. JC played the game fairly from the start.

What's next for our first Pinoy Sole Survivor? Well, show business beckons. Though none has been written about it yet, that is usually the path taken by reality show winners in this country. And with his good looks and the thousands (if not millions) of fans he already has as evidenced by that landslide text win, it's almost a done deal.

Congratulations to JC Tiuseco, Rob Sy and the rest of the castaways. And to GMA Network, hats off to you as well. Survivor Philippines was a success not only because of the survivors and castaways, but more so because it was handled magnificently (unlike other reality shows which have been bastardized by other networks (wink, wink). Can't wait for season 2!