MIKE Enriquez made 'Saksi," Channel 7's news program popular on TV giving rival shows some solid competition. His "exuberant" newscasting style has been spoofed in gag shows countless times. Does he mind at all that people may not be taking him seriously?

"It doesn't bother me at all, since we know that viewers are taking us seriously, because it shows in the ratings," grins Enriquez, who believes that the main ingredient of a newscast is its credibility. You can put in all sorts of concepts, gimmicks and production effects, but in the end, the news program's main concern should be whether the people believe in what it says or not.

Enriquez joined GMA four years ago not as an on-cam talent but as an executive tasked specificially to handle the network's radio expansion. "I've never imagined, not even in my wildest dreams, that I'd be where I am right now," says Enriquez, who is concurrently GMA's vice president for radio operations.

But time has a way of determining our destinations. During the elections in 1995, GMA thought of presenting the news coverage in a more fast-paced manner with a high level of energy. "In other words, they wanted to do it the way we do it on radio. So they brainstormed on the line-up of newscasters. My name cropped up and I was chosen to be one of the anchors," recalls Enriquez, who co-anchored the early morning gap in the election coverage with Karen Davila. "So, I faced the camera for the first time. I was so scared, but they asked me to come back the next day, and the day after that."

A year later, "Saksi" was born. His tandem with Karen Davila provided the show a fresher look. Since then, the reluctant TV personality has totally immersed himself in news anchoring, where his long experience as a news reporter, editor and broadcast journalist has been put to good use.

From "Saksi," he moved on to co-anchor "GMA Network News" with Vicky Morales. The movie helped revolutionize late-night news programs by shifting the medium to Tagalog, and this gave stiffer competition for ABS-CBN's "The World Tonight."

GMA's decision to do news broadcasts in Tagalog can be considered trendsetting. For one, late-night news has traditionally been presented in English in a more formal, straightforward and less "fantastic manner." "But who says it has to be that way? Who says that 10:30 p.m. should be devoted to English newscasts? Who says that anchorpersons have to be stiff, formal and serious? Who says you can't point or stand when delivering news? Research showed that the demographics of the audience at that time of day merited our going out of those boxes, so to speak," stresses Enriquez.

The relative success that "GMA Network News" achieved somehow rocked ABS-CBN's boat. Soon enough, it came up with a Tagalog news program, "Pulso," with Korina Sanchez and Ted Failon as anchors. But GMA looked in the other direction and launched "Front Page" with Mel Tiangco, the first female solo anchor on Philippine television, replacing "GMA Network News." And Mike went back to "Saksi."

Does he consider the movie a promotion, or a demotion? "I don't look at it that way. It's an assignment," says Enriquez and jests, "All I know is, it's a favor because now I can finally have a night life!"

But this shift to Tagalog, this sudden change in the look of evening newscasts, is this making the news a form of entertainment rather than a tool for information dissemination and straight news reporting? Enriquez points out, "Even in the old days, the burning issue was, do we give the people what they need or do we give them what they want? My position has always been giving people what they need in the form that they want."

There has always been a long debate on whether or not we need to put news in the entertainment mode to make it more viewer-friendly, so more people will be enticed to watch it. What's his take on the subject? "Hindi naman entertain," Enriquez says. "But the news is already bad as it is. Besides, as you must have seen, as the years progress, I've mellowed a lot. People used to say, 'Eto na naman si 'Saksi.' Yung masaya tuwing may mamamatay na tao dahil mababawasan daw ang masasamang tao sa mundo.' You know, time has a way of changing things.

"And besides, from the very start I was clear that if they were going to make me deliver the news as the other newscasters do, forget it, because we had to face the fact that we were going against an established form of program in the same timeslot. If we're going to do it exactly their way, walang mangyayari."

Despite his tendency to clown around, Enriquez takes his job seriously and works very hard to maintain his integrity and credibility as a journalist. He has received death threats and implicit financial offers, but he isn't deterred. "I've been told to change the route I take in going home every night. I've been advised to get a bodyguard," he reveals. But as they say, it comes with the territory, indicating that you've "arrived" and therefore creating ripples that affect influential people.

For Enriquez,, truth must never be compromised, no matter what. "It has to be presented the way it is. Just call it the way you see it, not as you think it is, or would it like to be," he says.