24 Oras confirmed the demise of one of their founding anchors Mike Enriquez on August 29, 2023.
The 72-year-old journalist led the top news show of GMA Network for 19 years together with Mel Tiangco and Vicky Morales.
Tiangco was the one who delivered the sad news to the public and couldn’t hide her tears while talking about the legacy of her colleague.
“Ang kanyang dedikasyon sa industriya ay magsisilbing inspirasyon sa lahat,” Tiango said.
All newscasters were wearing black during the said episode.
They also remembered Enriquez’ career as a journalist.
It can be recalled that Enriquez was already facing challenges due to health issues related to his heart and kidneys.
In 2022, he successfully underwent a Kidney transplant and returned to 24 Oras, but he was noticeably not appearing regularly because of his condition.
Enriquez described his situation in a past interview, saying that he was required to be careful with his health even if he already received a new kidney.
“‘Yung pinagdaanan ko mahirap. Aside from the procedure itself, may three months mandatory isolation period, and the purpose of that is to avoid the rejection and infection. ‘Yung kidney transplant patients, immuno-compromised sila eh. May comorbidities pa ko, senior citizen, diabetic.” Mike said.
“Imagine this, three times a week, sometimes four times a week, I am hooked up to a dialysis machine for four hours. Ask people who undergo dialysis, para kang binugbog ni Manny Pacquiao, physically,” he added.
Enriquez became popular with his lines ‘Hindi ko kayo tatantanan’.
He was also remembered for saying ‘Excuse Me Po!’ when his cough was interrupting his reporting.