All About Kuya’s House

Welcome to the Pinoy Big Brother house!

Read the book carefully because it will give you lots of good ideas about how to best prepare for your time in the house.

In the eight years since its first broadcast, it has become a worldwide phenomenon, one that relies on a tightly- structured format. It follows some simple principles. They are that

1.     The lifestyle is isolated from the outside world.

2.     The nomination process evicts people from the house.

3.     Everything that happens in the house and garden is filmed, 24 hours a day.

Big Brother depends on you adhering to a strict set of rules and conditions.  Listed below are the things you can and cannot do in the Big Brother house. Big Brother expects you to comply with these rules and reminds housemates that failure to do so could mean you being asked to leave the house immediately.


You will enter the Big Brother house through the main entrance. Whether you walk through these gates again after 126 days or after just one week is mostly up to you. The Big Brother house is completely equipped for 14 people. The bedrooms and lounge are placed around a camera run from which four cameras record life in the house. Cameramen operate these cameras.


The following furniture and soft furnishings, within the confines of the Big Brother House should not be moved at anytime:

Kitchen table
Confession room chair
Bedroom Pillows / comforters
Garden furniture
Gym equipment (except free weights)


The bathroom contains a sink, a shower-area and a spa. There are also two separate toilets (one for the males and one for the females). For safety reasons, the door to the toilet cannot be locked. However, there is a sign on the door indicating when someone is using the toilet. There is a camera in the shower and in the toilet.


There are two bedrooms in the Big Brother house. Each bedroom contains two cameras, one infrared camera and one microphone next to every bed. Both bedrooms can also be filmed from cameras hidden behind the mirrored walls. Both linen and towels are provided for each sleeping place. The doors to the bedroom can not be locked at all times. The cabinets in the bedrooms can only be used for their intended purpose, that is, to keep your personal belongings and clothing. You are not allowed to go and hide inside the cabinets.


The Confession Room is the only room in the house where housemates can communicate with Big Brother and vice versa. It’s here that you can disclose your personal feelings and observations about other house members.  It’s also where Big Brother can speak to housemates about house issues. The Confession Room is also used for informing Big Brother about a voluntary exit, joint calls and emergencies. All nominations for eviction will be made in the Confession Room, housemates may be  summoned to the Confession Room if Big Brother feels that there is an issue that needs to be discussed in more depth. Failure to appear in the Confession Room when requested by Big Brother could result in disqualification. Big Brother will give you just five (5) minutes to respond to his call.

Big Brother is the only person who communicates with you, no personal names just Big Brother. The room can only be entered if no one else is in the room (a light will indicate this), unless Big Brother instructs otherwise. If you want to enter the Confession Room you press an electronic buzzer. The door opens electronically when Big Brother is ready to let you in, it could take a while, so please have patience. 

Once you are in the Confession Room it is important, that for your own privacy, you turn off your microphone.  Once you leave the Confession Room please be sure to turn on your microphone again. It is also important for you to turn on the light of the signage indicating the room is “occupied”.

You will enter the Confession Room for the following things.

Voluntary exit
To open up your heart
Big Brother calls you in for a talk
Private counselling from a psychologist
 It is permitted for more than one housemate to be in the room.  The Confession Room is the only place where you can speak to Big Brother. You cannot communicate through the cameras in the house. If you try there will be no response from Big Brother.


Housemates will be instructed to open or close the curtains, when necessary.


Everything you and the other housemates will need is in here. There are tools for the small chores in and around the house and some dry goods, which will last for one week.  A supply of staples (bread, rice, eggs etc) is also stored here along with vegetables. Only Big Brother can open the door to the storage room and this will happen for fifteen minutes a day. During this time, the housemates will only get items needed for the day. There is an electronic lock preventing housemates from opening the door at other times. Games and materials for the tasks will also be delivered to this room. There may also be one-off deliveries to this room if Big Brother decides to set a task.  You may not use this as an extra opportunity to collect food.


The prayer room is a special spiritual place in the Big Brother house where you can contemplate, read the Bible or other spiritual materials, and pray.  You are not allowed to hangout and conduct other activities in the Prayer Room. Keeping the place solemn is the rule.


Heavy gym equipment should not be moved at all times, except when instructed by Big Brother.  Only the free weights can be taken out of their usual places but should be returned after use.


There is landscaping, pond and a swimming pool in the garden. The housemates have to water and maintain these plants, as well as to keep the pool clean. The housemates should also clean the camera windows every morning, and at instances when it rains.


You are not at any time permitted to climb onto the roof of the Big Brother House or to climb on to any other structure within the confines of the Big Brother House.  You can not communicate with people outside the perimeter fence. If you choose to ignore this rule you could be disqualified and asked to leave by Big Brother.


Cameras and microphones make sure there is no privacy in the Big Brother House.

Cameras film the housemates 24 hours a day. The house is surrounded by a corridor, through which cameras can be manoeuvred. Along the inside wall of this corridor are mounted one-way mirrors, which allow camera operators to film housemates without being seen. There are fixed mini-cameras in every room, including the shower and toilet. All rooms are fully illuminated at all times except for the bedrooms where the lights can be switched off at night, and only at night. Infrared cameras, which can film in the dark, are installed in both bedrooms. Discretion will be used, but Big Brother reserves the right to broadcast anything. Other cameras in the house are clearly visible and some of those can be remote-controlled. 

You are FORBIDDEN to use these visible cameras to:

relay messages to Big Brother
talk to anyone outside the Big Brother house
talk to anyone in the production staff

Everyday, you are required to clean the one-way mirrors through which we film and will provide the appropriate cleaning fluids for this. Cameras in the toilet and bathroom are for security reasons. Footage from the toilet and bathroom will be broadcast if Big Brother deems it necessary.


Housemates must wear their radio-mics at all times, except when they sleep or when they are in the swimming pool, shower and spa.  When you remove your mic in these places you must leave it in a specified place. Housemates are responsible for changing the batteries in their mics every 8 hours. New batteries for the radio mics will be placed in the Confession Room each day.

If you attempt to communicate without the cameras or microphones recording the communications (e.g. covering or tampering with microphones or cameras, writing secret messages, mouthing of words off camera, whispering to each other, talking in codes or using code names, or talking under hidden places like beddings, tables and beds) Big Brother may disqualify the housemate or housemates involved.

When you communicate with Big Brother in the Confession Room you must first turn off your microphone. Forgetting to turn on the microphone, deliberately or not, is an offense. Committing this offense will be considered a violation, and may put you up for automatic nomination.
Make sure your lapel microphones are not covered at all times, keep pillows and cushions away from the microphones.


There is no privacy in the Big Brother house. The cameras can see everything. There is a camera in the toilet, and the door cannot be locked. There is a camera in the bathroom. There are infrared cameras in the bedrooms that can also film in the dark. Bedroom doors should never be locked as well. In short, Big Brother is always watching. The reason for the presence of the cameras is not only because of the concept of the program, but also because of security reasons. This is also why the toilet and the bedroom doors cannot be locked. The housemates cannot drop out of the group, because everything is filmed and there are always other housemates around.  The only place where the housemates have privacy is the Confession Room, which can be automatically locked. Here there are also cameras and Big Brother is also watching.


The program, Pinoy Big Brother, will be broadcast daily on primetime BIDA, an afternoon show (UBER) and 3 big brother updates throughout the day on ABS CBN.  There will be a 24/7 channel on cable and broadcasts in Studio 23. You are not allowed to ask Big Brother any questions about how you are being shown on the television.


Big Brother will also be broadcast on the Internet.  Cameras feed the Internet 24 hours a day. The images on the Internet have the same rules as the images on television. The images of the toilet and the Confession Room will not be broadcast on the Internet, unless your actions in either of these rooms is contrary to their normal usage.  You are not allowed to ask Big Brother any questions about how you are being shown on the Internet.


The audition and screening process that every housemate has gone through is strictly confidential and should not be discussed, in any manner, inside the house.  You must not mention anything about the processes you went through, the people you have met during the said processes, and names of the production staff and technical people you may have met and known, including the producers and the story editors.


The Pinoy Big Brother house promotes cleanliness and hygiene. We are strongly encouraging the housemates to practice waste management through the proper segregation of waste products inside the house.  Please be guided by the following:
All waste products used by the housemates should be segregated into three kinds and thrown into their proper waste bins.  The waste bins are properly labelled and should be used accordingly.  Plastic bags should properly line the waste bins and waste should be put inside the plastic bags.  Each night, the housemates should properly knot the plastic bags before going to sleep for proper disposal.

The wastes are divided into the following categories:

Biodegradable products:
            Fruit peels/vegetables/fish intrails/chicken and pork bones/eggshells/

            Spoilt food/animal wastes/grass/twigs/branches/flowers

Recyclable products:
          Paper/carton boxes/glass/metals/plastic containers

          Sanitary napkins/diapers/rags/ceramics/candywrap and other wrappers/
Styrofoam materials

*Three violations of any of the house rules will mean eviction or automatic nomination for the housemate.
Any grave violation will also mean eviction or automatic nomination for the housemate.

Big Brother reserves the right to change or adjust the rules in this book as deemed necessary. All decisions made by Big Brother are always final and irrevocable.

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