Why Batangas’ Joshua Garcia was Evicted from the PBB Last Night

So last night, Batangas’ lone entry to the 2014 Pinoy Big Brother All In was finally evicted. Joshua Garcia, who is from the municipality of Bauan, had negative points when the Vote to Save and Vote to Evict results were summed up.

In a manner of speaking, the 16-year old’s eviction was particularly cruel. When the back-to-back-to-back evictions were held a fortnight ago, Joshua was one of only three housemates left inside the PBB House.

It initially looked as though the three – all teens – were already in the Big Four. However, all three showed maturity beyond their years in refusing to believe that they were because there was no formal announcement made to that effect.

As it happened, the back-to-back-to back evictions were not evictions at all but just one more of the show’s wicked twists. Of the four who were supposedly ‘evicted,’ only teenager Manolo Pedroso – who is a student of La Salle Greenhills – was subsequently sent packing.

“ As Tirso Cruz III – who was asked to sit in a panel and critique the performances of the housemates – observed, Joshua has that gift of being able to speak his emotions through his eyes. ”

Thus, the number of housemates went back up to six, and the next nominees for eviction were to be determined by a game facilitated by actress/host Judy Ann Santos. The game was all about answering questions about past and current housemates.

This was always going to be something of a kiss of death for Joshua, who had socialised almost exclusively with actress Jane Oineza and fellow teen Loisa Andalio.

It was no surprise that Joshua, Jane and actor Daniel Matsunaga – who became a housemate midway through the reality show – would yield the lowest scores and be nominated for eviction.

However, Jane had been steadily building up a fan base because of her frequent nominations. If I am not mistaken, she had topped the voting almost every time she was nominated for eviction.

This in itself is something of a turnaround and shows how fickle fans can be. In the early weeks of the show, there was even animosity towards her on Twitter.

I am reasonably certain that PBB has a very young voting fan base; and the voting public only started to rally behind Jane when the older housemates – who were evicted one after the other – started ganging up on her because of her simmering relationship with Joshua inside the PBB House.

The paradox here, of course, is that Joshua did not get the same support. The young Batangueño got as far as he did by being smart in the challenges – and thus avoiding nomination. When he could not avoid being nominated, he avoided eviction but only raked in mediocre results from the voting public.

Joshua had developed a reputation for being lazy inside the house; and to be fair, he was a self-confessed Juan Tamad. However, I do not think most teenagers in the voting public would have taken this against him.

Rather, because of his difficult childhood, he seemed to lack people skills. That was why he was extremely choosy with whom he interacted with. Thus, he probably came across to the voting public as lacking charm.

To me, it was really more a matter of confidence – or lack of it. He was at his best during the challenges because the lad is a fighter; and at his worst in social moments.

Strange as it may seem because there were so few people inside the PBB House, and yet Joshua – as did Jane – still managed to deny himself the chance to get to know the other housemates better.

Therefore, when the next set of nominees was to be determined by a quiz about past and current housemates, it was always a certainty that Joshua would not do well and be nominated.

Despite his eviction, the boy may yet have a future in show business. In the short film directed by Cathy Garcia-Molina, which was aired Saturday night, Joshua did very well for an amateur. He is extremely good-looking, yes; but more than good looks, he has an expressive face.

As Tirso Cruz III – who was asked to sit in a panel and critique the performances of the housemates – observed, Joshua has that gift of being able to speak his emotions through his eyes.

And while Daniel Matsunaga might have survived last night’s eviction, like Joshua he has not been raking in spectacular numbers either in the few times he had been nominated.

I had the suspicion before that this PBB threatened to become a sorority house the way the males were being evicted.

If the voting trends continue, I rather suspect that the Big Four will be an all-female ensemble: Jane, Loisa, Maris Racal and Vicki Rushton.

And the Top Two will be a straightforward dogfight involving Jane and Loisa. Jane will probably win this.

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