survivor philippines: palau: why justine lost

justine ferrer is a survivor. she has been an entertainer in japan since she was 19 and has been the breadwinner ever since. she has survived descrimination because of her uniqueness and her identity but she never gave up and she always stand after each fall. she is one of the stronger characters in survivor philippines this season.

but unfortunately, she was voted out unanimously (7-1) by her tribe and became the first castways to be voted off.

so why did justine lost?

first, she bacame complacent of her alliance with the girls. before the tribal council, there were so much talks that they would vote out charles. the girls even formed an alliance (echo, tara and justine), sensing the guys had an alliance. they trusted the girls too much that she did not realize that she was also in danger.

second, despite her giving her best in the challenges, her tribemates still viewed her as one of the weakest in the tribe. with carol being safe due to the immunity bracelet that was given to her by airai, the clear ones in danger in the tribe's eyes were charles and justine. among the boys, its clearly charles being the weakest since louie, marvin and suzuki contributes so much in challenges. among the three guirls, echo has been giving the tribe coconuts and tara has a very strong personality. maybe her being in the background and not being able to compete against the 2 girls gave the tribe an impression that she is the weaker one.

third, even if the show denies it, her identity being a transgender affected her. i think the filipino culture is still not ready to accept the fact that there are transgenders here in the coubtry. i am not saying that the vote was a discriminatory vote but i think she does not deserve to go this week. i was predicting a charles boot this week. but i am proud of her, admitting the fact that she was once a man on national television is really a brave thing to do in a conservative culture that we have. and even being in the island is a big accomplishment. and i also think she admitted it too early in the game.

i think she played the game well but just fell short. let's see how she fares in the next week since i think there will be an "outcast" like twist that was used in survivor pearl island. so we are not saying good bye to her but we are still looking forward to see her in the coming weeks.

but ultimately, justine is and will always be a survivor!