The first season of Survivor Philippines premiered on September 15, 2008, and ended its run on December 14 of the same year. Auditions for this season were held in six Philippine cities in May 2008. From these auditions, 18 contestants were selected to participate on the show in June 2008. The show was shot in Ko Tarutao, the same island where Survivor: Thailand took place, from July to August, 2008.

The names of the tribes were derived from the Thai language: Naak, Jarakay and Chalam, meaning snake, crocodile and shark respectively. The tribes were initially divided by gender, with Jarakay composed of the nine male contestants, and Naak of the females. On Day 19, the two tribes were merged into Chalam, composed of the ten remaining castaways.

The season was won by John Carlo "JC" Tiuseco, defeating Robert Vincent "Rob" Sy, 7-2, with the seventh vote resulting from him winning the popularity vote mentioned above. JC's win was already leaked months earlier after a showbiz-oriented website published the alleged results of the Final Tribal Council on October 2008 after two of the show's staff were overheard in a coffee shop about the show's outcome. Bediones labeled that website's report as a spoiler and insisted that only the program manager knew the identity of the winner, as the results would be revealed live on its finale.