Boy Abunda remembers Mike Enriquez: 'He was a wonderful friend'

A day after Mike Enriquez's passing, Boy Abunda remembered the late veteran broadcast journalist as his" dear friend" in Wednesday's episode of "Fast Talk with Boy Abunda."

The King of Talk remembered the days he used to work with Mike and shared his fondest memory of him.

“Magkasama po kami ni Mike nung early ’90’s dito sa GMA-7. Kami’y magkaibigan at nanatiling magkaibigan ng maraming maraming taon,” Boy began.

[Mike and I were together in the early '90s here in GMA. We were friends and remained friends for many, many years.]

Boy also shared how he broke the news of his return to GMA with Mike through a phone call.

"Naalaala ko po nung ako'y babalik na dito sa GMA-7, I remember calling Mike and I said, 'I have to tell you that I'm coming back to GMA-7 and what a shame it would be if I don't let you know,'" he said.

"Sabi po sa 'kin ni Mike, 'I would not have forgiven you, had you not called me,'" he added.

According to Boy, he invited Mike to be a guest in "Fast Talk with Boy Abunda" during its earlier days.

At last year's press conference following news of his return to GMA, Boy said Mike was among his priority interviewees for his talk show.

"It was a dream to do an interview with Mike Enriquez," Boy said on Fast Talk Wednesday. “Alam ko hindi natuloy but he said yes. He will always be in my heart, and he will always be in my mind."

"He was a lovely man. He was [a] wonderful, wonderful friend," he added. “Salamat at paalam, Mike Enriquez.”

Mike Enriquez passed away at 71 on Tuesday after battling a kidney disease. He took a medical leave in December 2021 to get a kidney transplant and returned to work in time for the 2022 election coverage.

Aside from "24 Oras," Mike hosted the long-time GMA Public Affairs program "Imbestigador" and anchored DZBB's "Super Balita sa Umaga" and "Saksi sa Dobol B."

He also served as President of RGMA Network, Inc. and GMA Network's Senior Vice President and Consultant for Radio Operations. — Hermes Joy Tunac/LA, GMA Integrated News