When you have something to fight for, something that you can provide to someone you know personally, someone who needed the money, would you give your all?
The Reward Challenge last night was just that. It afforded the winner 250 thousand pesos to be immediately given to a person of their choosing. Some chose long-serving yayas for the years of care they have given. Some chose relatives. All of them clearly needed the money.
And then there was Betong’s choice: his high school classmate who was stricken with colon cancer. As we saw on the video, the cancer had already spread to the rest of his body, and he is no longer capable of sitting up. The prize money could be used to pay for the chemo therapy. Everyone was tearing up when they saw how badly each of the potential recipients’ need for that extra help. But when Betong’s choice (saved for last) was shown, the waterworks commenced among the remaining castaways (and I suspect, even the viewers).
Being an emotionally driven challenge as this is, everyone’s adrenalin is running high. But this is a very physical competition, requiring them to roll 6 big wooden boxes and arranging them in the correct pattern on giant steps. Again, having an athlete’s body proved to be a heavy advantage for Arnold as he easily finished the task well ahead of the others. This is not to say that the others didn’t try. We saw all of them put in their efforts. Mara & Stef, clearly touched by Betong’s choice kept on cheering him on while rolling their own boxes. But unfortunately for those rooting for Albert to win, he can only go so far.
When Arnold finally hoisted his flag, he broke down in tears. The girls came to console him. Arnold didn’t have much cause to jump up and cheer. He was happy that he was able to give her Aunt the money for medical treatment, but he was also aware that in doing so, he prevented Betong from helping his friend. In all the challenges, Betong was ok with not winning, save for this one. This was the one he wanted to win, not for himself, but for a dying friend.
Now, there’s another battle raging among the viewers regarding Arnold’s win. Stef was of the opinion that Arnold should have thrown the game for Betong’s sake. But if he did that, then what of his own Aunt, who needed treatment? Its part of the rules that prize money won are not permitted to be shared.
Before I wrote this review, I saw from a screen-cap tweet of Betong’s that his friend passed away by the time they got back from Palawan. May he rest in peace and free from pain.
Now the question I pose to those who would read this article is: If you were in the competition, would you purposely loose to let Betong win, knowing that in doing so, you deprive someone you love the money that they need as well?
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on Jan 20, 2012
at 10:39 AM
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