Mike Enriquez, 71

At past 4 p.m. last Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023, I received a sad viber text and video music: Miguel “Mike” C. Enriquez, had passed away.

Mike was one of the anchors of GMA’s flagship newscast “24 Oras” and hosted the long-running public affairs program “Imbestigador.” He also served as president of RGMA Network, Inc. and GMA Network’s senior vice president and consultant for Radio Operations. He anchored dzBB’s “Super Balita sa Umaga” and “Saksi sa Dobol B.” He joined the broadcast industry in 1969 and became part of GMA Network in 1995.  At the time of his death, he was Radio Operations Group consultant, RGMA Network.

Mike is the broadcaster I admired most. He was witty, warm, intelligent, walang kayabang-yabang. In 2016, he became the only broadcaster ever given the Media Excellence Award and trophy by BizNewsAsia.

Early this August, the board of directors of the Manila Overseas Press Club (MOPC), Asia’s oldest press club (78 years old) and which I chair, decided to give Mike the Lifetime Achievement Award in Broadcast Journalism.

The MOPC award was to have been given him on Oct. 26, 2023, at Raffles Makati, during the MOPC’s first ever Journalism Awards. The 22-inch tall trophy, which I designed myself, was supposed to be a surprise to him.

Alas, it was Mike who surprised us by going prematurely to Heaven, after spending 54 years of broadcasting here on earth. He would have been 72 next month.

Mike graduated from De La Salle College (De La Salle University), was chairman of the board of trustees of La Salle Greenhills and a trustee of De La Salle University-Dasmariñas, the De La Salle Health Sciences Institute and De La Salle University Araneta. He was a member of the National Mission Council of De La Salle Philippines which coordinates and guides the network of all La Salle schools in the Philippines.

In 2016, when BizNewsAsia gave him the Media Excellence Award, this is what I wrote:

With rugged looks, a booming voice and 47 years of broadcast excellence, he is the face of authority and credibility in primetime TV newscast and morning radio newscast and commentary.

He made “24 Oras” the No. 1 primetime TV newscast. He also oversaw GMA radio’s expansion from four in 1995 to 27 stations.

He is a recipient of the 1999 Golden Dove Award for Best Male Newscaster and of the Ka Doroy Valencia Broadcaster of the Year Award given by the Kapisanan Ng Mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP). He also received the Star Award for Best Male Newscaster of 1999 from the Philippine Movie Press Club of the Philippines. His 1999 grand slam was completed when he won the award for Best Newscaster in the Asian Television Awards held in Singapore. He is the only Filipino to win that award so far.

He is so natural, warm and credible as a broadcaster that even when reading an advertisement he sounds like he is delivering the latest news. He is the best broadcaster in the Philippines today.

His radio broadcasts and television newscasts enjoy high ratings, audience share and steady revenues largely because of his inimitable style of delivery and because of the public’s enduring trust with the No. 1 radio station and No. 1 television channel.

His “24 Oras” is consistently the leading prime-time newscast and a big money maker for Channel 7. He is the face of GMA.

Mike Enriquez has seen and done it all.

He started as a trainee announcer at the Elizalde-owned Manila Broadcasting Co.

He experienced working without pay, joining a strike and being awakened by soldiers at their picket line in the early morning hours of the first day of martial law. He rose from the ranks and has done various tasks in radio and television.

Announcing, reporting, editing, marketing and programming up to senior management functions. He can even carry on a serious discussion with engineers when there is a major transmitter breakdown.

No wonder when GMA Network decided to expand its radio division in 1995, they wanted only one person to lead it: Mike Enriquez. Back then the network had only four stations. According to Enriquez, “GMA asked me to build a radio network. Now they have one.” Radio is the net profit center of the network.

While planning their 1995 election coverage, the GMA bosses became frantic when they realized that they lacked male television anchors. “They were desperate,” says Enriquez. “So they made me a TV anchor.  I warned them that they would have to have a big budget for my makeup since I didn’t have a made-for-TV face. Since they were desperate they still made me an anchor.”

The rest is history. Mike is the face of GMA.

Enriquez himself jests about his not having a “made-for-tv” look. But he is known for the traits that make him one of the most trusted broadcasters in the country. Credibility, fairness, honesty and a passion for truth. And, of course, in one of the three most dangerous countries in the world for journalists, he is also known for his fearlessness. He says, “You have nothing to fear if you follow the law. If you don’t… hindi namin kayo tatantanan!”

In his cabinet bursting with trophies and medals, one stands out among the rest – the Best Male News Presenter Award in the Asian Television Awards held in Singapore in 1999. No other Filipino had won the award.

When asked about the awards that seem to not stop coming, Enriquez’s eyes light up when he says, “The best award is when a mother asks me to have a picture with her ten-year-old son. He wants to be like you.”

Mike’s secret?  A quote from Albert Einstein: “Try not to be a person of success; rather; be a person of value.”

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