Quotable Mike

Expect to be surprised. Repeat interviews run the risk of being monotonous and unexciting, but not with Mike Enriquez. In my experience, this multi-awarded news anchor and radio broadcaster is consistently funny and fascinating; a wide-ranging and glib storyteller anybody would relish talking to again (and again).

Here are some revelations: Even as a child, this De La Salle University commerce graduate had always been very active in church, used to serve as an altar boy whose lifelong dream was to become a Franciscan priest (and would have been so had he not become a journalist). He started out in radio as a disc jockey known as “Baby Michael” and in fact, appeared in a 1991 Andrew E. movie, Mahirap Maging Pogi, also as a DJ.

And oh, one thing that never fails to take people by surprise during interviews is that the signature voice (yes, the voice that inspired many an impersonation) that delivers lines like “Hindi namin kayo tantanan” is nowhere to be found. When speaking in fluent English, he surprisingly sounds different—with a twang even.

Well, surprises, lessons and of course, quotable quotes are the stuff good interviews are made of.  Here are excerpts from a recent, freewheeling chat with Mike Enriquez.

On his career as radio broadcaster:

Ever since I was a kid, I don’t know what happened but I fell in love with radio earlier than I fell in love with anybody else. Radio to me is a passion, not a career or a job or a profession. It’s a combination of passion and lunacy. That is why every morning I look forward to every four o’ clock because my radio program is at 4:30am.

On entering politics:

In order for me to go into something, it must be exciting enough. Politics is not exciting enough in a personal capacity. But as something that needs to be covered, knowledge and interest in politics are a must in the same manner that I am required to have sufficient knowledge and interest in showbiz, business, or sports. But that is far as it goes. But if you ask me about personal involvement and participation in politics, especially in the way it is today? My answer is no. And I have given that answer, a direct, firm but polite answer “No, thank you” to people who have suggested that I run.  

On journalists and “unlikely candidates” entering politics:

It’s a free country. The challenge is not so much them running or not running. The challenge is for the people who voted for them to keep watch and make sure that they deliver on their promises. But am I not saying I’m not going to run because people might get back to me and say, “That’s what Noli de Castro, and Loren Legarda also said.” Now, I am not interested. I am perfectly fine where I am right now.  

On endorsements:

We are allowed but under certain strict conditions. I have received a lot of inquiries for endorsement, but somehow they don’t comply with the network’s requirements. If only all my endorsements pushed through, I would have retired by now. But here we are, with each other, alone again, naturally.

On being a favorite subject of impersonating and running gags:

I have no problem with that. The one in “Bahay Mo Ba ‘To,” I know he’s a props man and I always see him practicing his act in the corridors. I have a soft spot for him because he has ambition, and I want those people to succeed, even if succeeding means impersonating me. As for Michael V., we have been good friends. This is not an ego thing, but come to think of it: of all the people that he could impersonate, why did he pick me?

On the perks of being popular:

We don’t live for those favors. I had dismissed a driver for telling a traffic enforcer, “Alam mo ba kung kaninong kotse ‘to?” We follow rules like anybody else… if the traffic light is red, then we stop. If we had to fall in line, we line up. Sure, if we make requests like a table in a restaurant that is packed or to be upgraded in airline or hotel, they would give in, but no, we don’t do that. It always happens to my wife and me. But we don’t live for the perks.