The Amazing Race Philippines
The Amazing Race Philippines is a Philippine reality game show based on the American series The Amazing Race. It features eleven teams of two with pre-existing relationships, who will vie for the prize of ₱2 million in a race around the Philippines.
The first season premiered on October 29, 2012 and aired every Mondays to Fridays at 9:00 PM and Saturdays at 8:30 PM on TV5 and is hosted by Derek Ramsay.
The show is produced by the Australian production company, activeTV, which has also produced The Amazing Race Asia, The Amazing Race Australia, an Israeli version called HaMerotz LaMillion, and the Ukrainian version called Velyki perehony. It is the fifth Asia-Pacific version after The Amazing Race Asia, The Amazing Race Australia, , and The Amazing Race Vietnam.
The second season premiered on October 6, 2014 and aired daily at 9:00 PM. The show ended on December 7, 2014 with an hour-long program.
The Race
The Amazing Race Philippines is a reality television competition between eleven teams of two in a race around the Philippines. The race is divided into a number of legs wherein teams travel and complete various tasks to obtain clues to help them progress to a Pit Stop where they are given a chance to rest and recover before starting the next leg twelve hours later. The first team to arrive at a Pit Stop is often awarded a prize while the last team is normally eliminated from the race. The final leg of each race is run by the last three remaining teams, and the first to arrive at the final destination wins the ₱2 million cash prize.Teams
Each team is composed of two individuals who have some type of relationship to each other. A total of 22 participants have joined The Amazing Race Philippines, some of which have been local celebrities.Casts must be at least 21 years old, and must be a Filipino citizen or a permanent resident of the Philippines for at least two years.
Among the cast of the first season are Danielle Castaño, who represented the Philippines in the Miss World 2008 pageant; Raymund Vergara, a Mister Philippines 2003 World contestant; LJ Moreno, a former Pinoy Fear Factor contestant; Jervi Li and Saida Diola, former part of a Philippines noontime show Eat Bulaga;, football players Armand and Anton del Rosario, and ABS-CBN reporter Angel Movido.
Route Markers
Route Markers are yellow and red flags that mark the places where teams must go. Most Route Markers are attached to the boxes that contain clue envelopes, but some may mark the place where the teams must go in order to complete tasks, or may be used to line a course that the teams must follow.Obstacles
Teams may encounter the following that may affect their position during the race:- Yield: It is where a team can force another trailing team to wait a predetermined amount of time before continuing the race.
- Intersection: It indicates that two teams must complete further tasks together until a clue indicates that they have been separated.
- U-Turn: It is where a team can force another trailing team to complete the other option of the Detour they did not select. Teams may only use their ability to u-turn another team once throughout the race.
Legs
At the beginning of each leg, teams receive an allowance of cash to cover expenses during the race.Teams then have to follow clues and Route Markers that will lead them to the various destinations and tasks they will face. Modes of travel between these destinations include commercial and chartered airplanes, boats, taxis, buses, and rented vehicles provided by the show, or the teams may simply travel by foot. Each leg ends with a twelve-hour Pit Stop where teams are able to rest and where teams that arrive last are progressively eliminated from the race until only three remain. In some legs, the first teams to arrive at the Pit Stop win prizes, usually from the show's sponsors, and some passes that will give them advantages in the race:
- The Salvage Pass was awarded to the winners of the first leg of the first season which allows the team to either gain a 30-minute advantage in a task or save the last team from elimination. Marc & Kat won this pass and used it to enter the Bantay Bell Tower before its "Hours of Operation".
- The Express Pass was awarded to the winners of the third leg of the first season and the winners of the first leg of the second season. This allows that team to skip any task they want during the race. Marc & Kat won this pass in the first season and used it to skip the Roadblock challenge in leg 5. The Express Pass was used differently in Season 2, in it Vince & Ed could only use the pass up until leg 4.
Non-elimination Legs
Rules and penalties
Most of the rules and penalties are adopted from the American edition.One of the most notable penalties was the penalty received by Anton & Armand in the second leg of the first season. Anton & Armand initially arrived 4th at the second Pit Stop of the race, but were issued a 24-hour time penalty for contacting someone outside the race. They dropped to 10th place and were eliminated.
Seasons
Places visited
As of the second season, The Amazing Race Philippines has visited 14 cities and 10 municipalities in 13 provinces across the Philippines.| Cities | Municipalities |
Number of times visited
The following are the number of times the provinces are visited by The Amazing Race Philippines. Note that Metro Manila is not a province but a cluster of cities, though it will be classified under it. Independent cities will also be classified under their associated provinces, although they are not officially part of that province.By Province
;Notes- This count only includes provinces that fielded actual route markers, challenges or finish mats. Transport stopovers and connecting flights are not counted or listed.
- Table rankings are first based on the number of seasons, followed by the number of Pit Stops, by Provinces visited, and lastly by number of places visited.
Reception