Ejay Falcon triumphs

Aprylle Liabres (Contributor)
Khaleej Times Online
17 June 2008

HE WASN’T really favoured to win the title, but that didn’t matter to Ejay Falcon. The 18-year-old Mindoro native (he’s from the same town as vicepresident Noli de Castro and ABS-CBN President Charo Santos-Concio) sneaked past crowd favourite Robi Domingo to emerge Big Winner of Pinoy Big Brother Teen Edition Plus.

Ejay took 36.31 per cent of the total number of votes cast. It was actually a close fight between him and Robi, who was leading before voting officially closed. A late surge of votes enabled Ejay to overtake Robi, who settled for second with 34.39 per cent of the total votes cast.

Rounding out the Teen Big Four were Beauty Gonzales of Dumaguete, who placed fourth, and third placer Nicole Uysiuseng of Cebu. However, Ejay’s victory has been marred by controversy. Many say that Robi should have been the rightful winner, because Ejay merely rode the tide of public sympathy, presenting himself as a poor boy who temporarily had to quit schooling, and arguing that Robi (who comes from an upper-class family and attends an expensive private Catholic university) should not win ‘because he doesn’t need the money’.

This, his critics claimed, was beside the point. They pointed out that Pinoy Big Brother was not a charity contest, and winners should not be chosen on the basis of need or sympathy. At a Press conference where the top four PBB Teen Edition Plus finishers were presented to the media, Ejay clarified that he had nothing against Robi. In fact, he wasn’t even expecting that he would win. Speaking in Tagalog, he said: “I didn’t think my chances of winning were all that great.”

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