Veteran broadcaster Mike Enriquez trended on local Twitter after some Filipinos shared clips of his appearance in GMA Network’s election coverage where he uttered straightforward comments on the midterm elections.
Enriquez was one of the broadcasters in Channel 7’s “Eleksyon 2019” special coverage, where he was accompanied by fellow anchors Jessica Soho and Mel Tiangco.
The three of them were reporting but there were certain parts in the program where they shared their commentaries about the partial unofficial tally of the country’s senatorial race.
Some of Enriquez’s commentaries made it on the microblogging platform, where users lauded him for expressing such views on national television.
One clip featured the broadcaster interviewing resident television analyst Richard Heydarian.
“Professor Richard, wala pa rin sa kalaunan, wala pa ring tunay at malaliman na pagbabago at reporma tayong maaasahan,” Enriquez said while some names of senatorial aspirants flashed onscreen.
Another clip showed Enriquez talking to Tiangco and Soho, where he mentioned that he wanted to interview the leading senatorial candidates.
“Lahat nung mga nanalo, oo, na ma-interview. Gusto ko silang singilin, anong maaasahan namin sa inyo ngayon?” he said.
Tiangco and Soho aired their comments but Enriquez reasoned out that he wanted to see whether the aspirants would stick to their campaign promises or not.
“Oo, para magkaalaman. Ngayon pa lang, magkaalaman na para sa habang umuusad ang kanilang termino, na-tse-tsek natin ‘yung ginagawa nila versus ‘yung ipinangako nila. Ganoon lang ka-simple ‘yon,” he said with assertion.
Another clip featured Enriquez giving his opinions about politicians ideally fulfilling their promises. It prompted his fellow broadcasters to declare a commercial break.
hE SNAPPEDT KAYA KINAILANGAN NG BIGLAANG COMMERCIAL HAHAHAHAHHA RAMDAM KO YUNG FRUSTRATION NIYA HANGGANG DITO SA CAVITE pic.twitter.com/DfvEP2kWxk
— alak (@adorablevice) May 14, 2019
“Kung kalahati lang sa mga ipinapangako ng mga kandidato ay magkatotoo, kalahati lang, hindi siyento porsyento, aba’y napakagandang lugar nitong Pilipinas. Ha?” he exclaimed.
Enriquez is known for being straightforward on-air, particularly in interviews.
Admin-backed bets
As Comelec transmits the partial unofficial tallies of the nation’s vote count, administration-backed senatorial aspirants have been dominating the “Magic 12” since the counting started.
Most of them are from the ruling party PDP-Laban and the newly-formed Hugpong ng Pagbabago.
They are more or less the same candidates who have dominated past surveys on senatorial preferences as released by polling bodies Pulse Asia and Social Weather Stations.
Some of them have been involved in controversies as well.
Imee Marcos, for instance, was discovered to have faked her credentials after prestigious educational institutions like Princeton University and the University of the Philippines debunked her claims.
Bato dela Rosa, who previously revealed that he does not have any knowledge whatsoever when it comes to making laws, released his biopic days before the start of campaign season.
Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez admitted that releasing such a movie during that period gives electoral candidates unfair leverage.
Bong Revilla, meanwhile, was involved in the notorious Priority Development Assistance Fund scam wherein he supposedly misused millions of pesos with the aid of Janet Lim Napoles.