Mula sa labing-anim ay sampu na lang ang natitirang castaways sa Survivor Philippines: Palau. Ang sampung castaways na ito ang bumubuo ng merged tribe—ang Sonsorol.

Kasama sa merged tribe na ito ang mga dating taga-Koror na sina Marvin Kiefer, Echo Caceres, Suzuki Sadatsugu, Shaun Rodriguez, Amanda Coolley Van Cooll, at Jef Gaitan; ang mga dating taga-Airai na sina Mika Batchelor, Charles de Vera Fernandez, at Tara Macias; at ang unang castoff na si Justine Ferrer na nakabalik sa laro pagkatapos niyang manalo sa anim na sunud-sunod na face-off challenges. (CLICK HERE to read related story.)

Ilang araw bago ipalabas sa TV ang pag-merge ng Koror at Airai at ang pagbabalik ni Justine sa laro, isang presscon ang ipinatawag ng GMA-7 para sa mga natitirang Koror members—maliban kay Amanda na bumalik na raw sa Alaska—at si Mika ng Airai. Ginanap ang presscon sa Mutya Hall ng Sulo Hotel sa Quezon City last October 2.

MIKA BATCHELOR. Si Mika ay isang chef at restaurant owner sa Palawan. Pamangkin siya ng aktres na si Carmi Martin. "She's the cousin of mom ko. But she's also my ninang," banggit ni Mika tungkol sa kanyang celebrity aunt.

How was her experience like in Survivor Philippines?

"The whole thing is an experience!" sambit niya. "Even before pumunta ako sa isla, everything... You can't just have parang one without the other... It's hard to explain kasi I think the only ones who can really understand are the ones who have been there, like yung mga cast, yung mga crew... I guess yung mga nasa Season 1, they can really relate. You can do enough explaining about it but you really don't know what it feels like unless nandun ka."

What's the hardest part na na-experience niya while she was in Palau?

"Dealing with people that you cannot get away from," sagot ni Mika. "You know, the game, it's very mental. Okay, it's everything, di ba—it's mental, it's physical, you try to stay in the game and play the game. But, for me, I wanna say like 90 percent, it's a mind game."

Ang tinutukoy ba ni Mika ay si Tara, na nakasagutan niya nang matindi habang nasa Palau sila?

"Specifically Tara," pag-amin niya. "But I mean, of course, there's other people that in real life, you wouldn't really have them as a friend... But when you're in the island, wala kang choice. I mean, you're in the same camp, you're on the same beach, you can't go sa kabilang isla, you can't get away from it. You just have to deal with it."

How did she deal with Tara?

"In the beginning, it was very... parang it hurt me to hear na all my efforts, everything that I'm trying to do for the group, parang she was blaming it on me, na parang, kaya siya walang silbi. At first, I was like, 'Ha, ano?' I was crying because it's like, that's so unfair. After I was able to cry and get it all out, parang, 'Wait lang, ba't ako umiiyak?' That's not right. I need to tell her what I feel or give her a piece of my mind.

"Hindi ko naman siya pinatulan, but I really had to say something, you know? I can't hold it in talaga, I really need to say something, that she was wrong. When she talks, she doesn't have a point, and she just talks. Even when you try to explain something to her, parang hindi pa rin niya nakukuha. So, parang I needed to say what I needed to say, but I knew at the same time that it was waste of time."

Watching her confrontation scene with Tara on TV, how did she feel?

"Siyempre, it brings back emotions and things like that. But it made me realize na wala talagang kuwenta yung sinasabi niya. It was like, 'What is she talking about?'"