Young businessman Kiko Rustia was blindsided by two of his
former tribemates in Naak, leading to his ouster from Survivor Philippines.
Kiko became the 9th person to be voted out and the second Jury
Member. (Niña Otiz was forced to leave the game because of an injury.)
Going into the Tribal Council, Kiko expected that all six former Naak tribemates—including himself—would write down the name of waiter Marlon Carmen to be the next Survivor castoff. But Kiko got the shock of his life when two of his former tribemates, driver Cris Cartagenas and model Kaye Alipio, turned their backs against him and voted along with the three former Jarakay members: Marlon, taekwondo instructor Veronica Domingo, and product officer Charisse Yacapin.
Kiko had five votes while Marlon had four.
Veronica was safe from the Tribal Council after winning the Immunity Challenge, an endurance test that lasted four hours.
Before leaving the Tribal Council area, Survivor Philippines host Paolo Bediones asked Kiko to open a small treasure box that has been on Paolo's side since the first Tribal Council. Inside the box is a black pearl that Kiko can give to one of the remaining castaways. The black pearl will serve as a curse to whoever holds it, and the holder will automatically get an extra vote in the next Tribal Council.
Kiko gave the black pearl to former Naak tribemate Rob Sy, a sales officer, believing that Rob betrayed him. Rob, on the other hand, could only look at Kiko in shocked surprise.
In his exit interview, Kiko said that what happened was "God's will." He just hopes that his ouster will be "for the better."
Kiko also realized that two of his former tribemates betrayed him, although he did not know who. But he said that the two probably had enough reason for voting him out.
Kiko has now joined gym instructor Jace Flores as Jury Members. The Jury will decide who will win the three-million cash prize and title of the first-ever Pinoy Sole Survivor.
GREAT PLAN. Back in the Chalam camp, Rob was furious over what Kiko did to him in the Tribal Council. Rob uttered expletives against Kiko, arguing that he stayed true to their agreement until the very end.
Kaye wept for voting against Kiko. But Cris assured her that what they did was right since he believed that Kiko was using them for his personal gain.
The decision of Kaye and Cris to write down Kiko's name might have been triggered by former Naak tribemate JC Tiuseco's decision to bring along Kiko, Rob, and Zita Ortega after winning a reward challenge. That left Cris and Kaye with the three former Jarakay tribemates back to the camp.
While JC, Kiko, Rob, and Nanay Zita immersed themselves with a family in a nearby island, Marlon started working on Kaye and Cris to break their alliance. It was a ploy that Marlon used to save himself from being voted off.
Marlon, who was also celebrating his birthday on the day of the Tribal Council, succeeded in convincing Cris and Kaye to vote against Kiko. He called his "decoy" a master plan and was very pleased with himself.
With Kiko gone, Marlon has now turned the power in his favor—or so he thinks.