Survivor Philippines (Season 25) : The Winner Is…

Obviously, you're here because you want to know who won in Survivor Philippines, season 25 of my favorite reality show. I was rooting for Lisa Whelchecl all the way, but as it turns out, Denise Stapley is the winner of Survivor Philippines.

Boohoo! I never liked Denise, though I admire her agility in the challenges. She's a bad ass!! However, I believe that strategy-wise, Lisa deserved to win. But, it's another season where you have bitter jury members.

I've been a big fan of Survivor since its first season, and I've waited for too long for them to finally pick my home country, the Philippines, as their location. After 25 seasons, finally, it happened! And I was so amused by how Jeff Probst says "Matsing" (Tagalog/Filipino for monkey), "Tandang" (rooster) and "Kalabaw" (carabao). :D

I think the show has gained many new fans this season because there were a lot of Filipinos who were too excited to see our country featured in such a big show such as Survivor. :)

Anyway, going back to the series, there are many other reasons why I love Survivor Philippines. Though I'm not a fan of bringing back old castaways, I was glad to see Michael Skupin and Jonathan Penner back. I love them both in their seasons, especially Skupin. However, this season, he diminished into a clumsy, old castaway. I'm surprised he got into the final 3. Well, thanks to Lisa.

I wished Penner went a li’l further, but he really missed an opportunity when he didn’t align with Lisa. I think he could’ve gone to the final 3 actually ‘cause Lisa knows she can win against him and Skupin. :D

For me, the most strategic player in the game was Lisa. She played us all along - yes US, the viewers. If you noticed how Lisa talks to the viewers during her confessions, telling us how we should look at her 'character' in the show, you'll realize that she's trying to make us continue to like her even after all the mischievous things she's doing. Well played, Lisa. :)

I wanted Lisa to win because I believe she's the only one who actually had a strategy from the very beginning. She might not have realized that 'til the later part of the series when there were only a few of them left, but she played the game real well.

Denise and Malcolm really just used their strength and the immunity idol in their hands to stay in the game. Lisa, without any of that, still made it to the final 3 and was in the running for the million dollars, and no one seemed to have thought of getting rid of her 'cause she's just too nice. There's one flaw in her strategy though – she’s inconsistent and came to a point when she was too upfront than I would've wanted.

Another character I loved in Survivor Season 25 is Abi Maria Gomes. Okay, most of us hate her, but she seriously amused me with how she handled her last few days, pretending to have gotten a clue to the hidden immunity idol and then making everyone believe, with some doubt, that she already found it. And remember how she found the HII that she was supposed to share with RC Saint-Amor in the very beginning? :D Oh, I'm glad RC got voted out. I was rooting for her and Skupin at first, but after watching Ponderosa on YouTube, she started to irritate me quite quickly. Imagine being around her and Abi - I've yet to watch the Ponderosa videos of them together. LOL

Anyway, Denise is the Survivor Philippines winner, and there's nothing else I can do. I would've loved Malcolm Freberg to win 'cause next to Lisa, he had the better strategy. But, he's too much of a threat and I knew he won’t make it past final 4. Another Survivor season where I didn't like the outcome - that the better player didn't win. *sigh* Can't wait for the next season!!