MANILA, Philippines - “We surprised ourselves.” That’s how Anna “Yna” Cruz, the other half of the Magkapatid Team, describes her and brother Jesy’s journey in the TV5 reality show The Amazing Race Philippines Season 2. Its finale will air tonight after the PBA Games.
“Since the first leg, we’ve had low morale because we feel we’re the ones who are not physically fit,” says Jesy, who is also known to fans as Jet. “We have models, Mr. Pogi boys and the Juan Direction (members) as our competitors.”
This contradicts what the televiewers and their followers think of the work they have done in the race for P2M and the two house and lots as grand prizes, not to mention the bragging rights to become the next Phl Amazing Racers, following in the winning footsteps of LJ Moreno and CJ Jaravata of the inaugural season.
“I think 75 percent of what brought us to where we are now is because of our (sibling) relationship,” says Yna, who considers running her waterloo.
“I know her weaknesses,” adds Jet. “She knows mine. I know when to stop talking to let her speak. One thing about (us as compared to other teams) is we never fought. We know that we can’t afford to make mistakes if we want to stay in the race. Talo kasi kami sa takbuhan, talo kami sa challenges (We’re pale in comparison when it comes to running and doing challenges). We have to be efficient.” And there’s no room for error, as Yna puts it. So for this tandem, the formula could be a calculated, well-thought of foot-race approach without discounting the magic Lady Luck brings in the race.
“We just have to understand each other,” says Jet. “I would tell her, ‘This is not our race against them. This is our race against ourselves.’ You just need to focus.” Sometimes, they have to play smart to even out the playing field. Example of this is doing the voting board, where they can delay team by giving it a U-Turn or a Yield. It was RR Enriquez and Jeck Maierhofer’s team that gave Jet and Yna the idea on how to use it. “We should vote the one in the lead, which gives others a chance,” says Yna.
In the course of the race, Jet and Yna placed second in four legs and came in third in the same number of pit stop challenges, lagging behind the dating couple team of Matthew Edwards and Phoebe Walker. The siblings have to secure their first pit stop win. Also struggling their way to the finish line are chefs Elijah Estillore and Roch Hernandez, who are currently in third position. Completing the final four are Mr. Pogi racers Kelvin Engles and John Paul Duray.
After tonight’s finale, Jet and Yna will head back to reality. It means that Jet will resume his work in their family business — they are into construction of public schools and small-time real estate. Yna, on the other hand, does analytics (procurement data) for a bottling company. According to TV5, the brother-and-sister team will be part of the upcoming show Extreme challenges, Kaya Mo Ba ’To? of Derek Ramsay, which will premiere next year.
“This was the second time we auditioned,” says Jet, a self-confessed Amazing Race fan (both the US and Asian editions) like his sister. “We couldn’t sleep with the idea of us getting in the race. (While being there) mas tumaas ang respeto namin sa mga taong sumali dito. We’ve never realized that we’re strong as a team. We just want not to get eliminated (early in the race and in every leg). We’ll just do our best to stay. Becoming first in a leg is just a bonus.”
“We’ve realized that there’s task after task,” shares Yna. “In a day, we would have seven or eight tasks,” adds Jet.
So, which team will reach the Amazing Race Philippines Season 2 mat first and win the final pit stop? “It’s anyone’s game,” says Yna. That’s true since every leg presents a different set of challenges. Let’s wait and see.