Fulcrum Alliance

The Fulcrum Alliance is an alliance in ''Survivor: Philippines. ''It's name was based on Jonathan Penner's term of the role of Michael Skupin and Lisa Whelchel as swing votes, especially during the time that he and Artis Silvester were voted out. Basically, it is an alliance that consists of Michael Skupin and either R.C. Saint-Amour (who Jonthan Penner invited the two to be with Kalabaw Alliance to against the Tandang Alliance) or Lisa Whelchel (who Jonathan Penner also invited to be in the six-person alliance against the Tandang Alliance, but formally joined after Artis was eliminated). As the name indicates, the alliance usually acts as a support between opposing alliances acting as "swing votes", and they usually dictates what major alliance will gain power after every Dangrayne Tribal Council.

RC and Skupin Set Aside
After Abi thought that RC is planning something with Skupin behind her back, Abi thought of getting the Tandang's Hidden Immunity Idol with the help of the clue that Abi and RC found inside of the tribe's rice basket. With the help of Peter Yurkowski, Abi-Maria Gomes found the Hidden Immunity Idol, and kept it to herself. Peter, however, thought of a strategy to fully sever the ties between Abi and RC: he took the clue for the Hidden Immunity Idol, and placed it in RC's bag, with Abi thinking that her hunch was right, and with Peter's new recruits Lisa and Artis, created a new Tandang Alliance against RC and Skupin.

Tipping the Scales
Even though Skupin and RC are now part of the minority, the majority didn't get the chance to vote them out, as Tandang never lost in all the Immunity Challenges they participated in. On Day 17, Kalabaw and Tandang were instructed to leave their beaches, as they were going to merge. With Skupin and RC in the outs of Tandang and Kalabaw needing numbers against Tandang, Penner invited Skupin and RC to their alliance to go against Tandang to flip the majority to them. However, Kalabaw's other members have other plans: Malcolm Freberg proposed of a plan to vote off the returning players with eliminating Penner first and RC leaving if he used the Hidden Immunity Idol, which Jeff Kent - a player who doesn't want returning players to win - joining with the plan. RC joined with Penner's plan in voting against Pete, but Skupin - who probably wanted to avoid a tie between Penner and his ally RC - voted against Penner instead. With Penner using his Hidden Immunity Idol, Skupin's ally RC was sent home, making Skupin vurnerable.

Saving Skupin
With RC and Penner's Hidden Immunity Idol gone, the remaining castaways planned to vote against Penner next. Knowing that he is next, Penner tried his best in winning the Immunity Challenge, which he did after a slow start. With Penner safe and just a few moments before the Tribal Council with no definite plans, Lisa - who befriended Skupin when he found out that she was Blair from The Facts of Life - tried to save Skupin who is a possible target for being a returning player, by telling him and Peter that she found Malcolm's Hidden Immunity Idol, and that it is a good time to blindside a threat. The plan however failed after Peter - who thinks of Malcolm as an ally - told Malcolm about it, which forced Lisa to rally Tandang during the Tribal Council to vote him out for not telling about his Hidden Immunity Idol. The plan failed as Malcolm shows his Hidden Immunity Idol to everyone and threatened that he would use it. Lisa and Skupin (where Skupin was thought to be part of the six-vote plan against Peter) voted against Jeff, keeping Tandang in the majority.

Skupin's Big Move
After Jeff was eliminated and Penner is still in danger, Penner tries to swing the numbers in Kalabaw (who found a new ally in Malcolm) against Tandang by convicing Skupin and Lisa that they are better with them than with Tandang. While Penner's efforts of swaying Lisa (saying that she understand her struggle and that Lisa would look better with the audience if she voted with them) failed, Penner, however, managed to survive by one vote: a vote against Artis from Skupin. With Artis eliminated, the Kalabaw had now gained the majority.

Lisa Jumps Ship
After the Day 25 Tribal Council where Abi said that Lisa looks untrustworthy, Lisa decides to reneged from the Tandang alilance and join the Kalabaw superalliance with Skupin, cementing the two as a tight duo. After Peter and Abi didn't win the Immunity Challenge, a plan to split-vote between Pete and Abi was made to flush out Abi's Hidden Immunity Idol. Peter, however, took a chance at getting the alliance back to Tandang's side, but failed and was sent to the Jury, as Abi used her Hidden Immunity Idol to prevent a tie between her and Pete.

Dealing with Matsing
During the time the superalliance plans to vote out Abi or Pete, however, Malcolm and Skupin thought of creating a Final 4 alliance with Lisa and Denise. Skupin consulted Lisa about it (with Lisa saying that she trusts Penner more), and asked Penner to join them in a Final 3 alliance. Penner declined, saying that he wants to play one step at a time, with Lisa thinking that Penner missed an opportunity. The alliance finally decided to form a Final 4 alliance with Matsing, targeting Kalabaw after Abi and Pete are gone.

Breaking with Kalabaw
After Day 27, the plan of the superalliance seems clear: if Abi didn't get Immunity in the next Tribal Council, she will be the next to be voted out. However, after Abi winnning the Immunity Challenge (with the help of an advantage bought at the Survivor Auction) much to the others' disbelief, the Matsing-Fulcrum superalliance's plan of voting out Penner - the plan if Abi somehow won Immunity - materialized where Penner failed to get the alliance to his side (even after saying that they have a lower chance of winning if they aligned with Matsing), sending him to the Jury.

Lisa's Ephiphany
After Day 30, with Abi and Carter left as the outsiders, they are now seemed to be the next two boots. However, after Lisa's brother (who visited during the Loved Ones reward) told her that people will respect her even if she betrays them as it is just a game, she now has new found confidence to make big moves, particularly blindside Malcolm. With a plan with the outsiders to vote out Malcolm, it seemed that Malcolm's blindside is imminent. However, after Malcolm narrowly won against Carter in the Immunity Challenge, the blindside plan was put to hold, and they stuck with Matsing to vote out Carter, eliminating all original Kalabaw castaways.

The Final Five Decision
After Day 33, the Fulcrum-Matsing alliance was left with Abi. With Lisa thinking of bringing people that she could beat instead of people that deserved it more, Lisa considered Abi's proposal on voting out Denise (as Malcolm has an idol, with the assumption that he would use for himself as the next Tribal Council would be the last time to use it). During the next Reward Challenge, Skupin won and decided to bring Lisa and Malcolm to the Reward, where Malcolm proposed a Final Three agreement with the alliance. Before Tribal Council, the alliance decides whether to keep Abi as she would be an easier person to beat at the Final Tribal Council than staying with the alliance with Matsing, or to keep Denise as she has the chance to beat Malcolm in the Final Four Immunity Challenge, to eliminate him in the next Tribal Council. Abi persuaded the alliance to bring her to end as she said that she would not get Jury votes for being unlikable, but the alliance sided with Matsing voting out Abi unanimously, sending her to the Jury.