Kay Susan pa rin tayo! From FUNFARE By Ricardo F. Lo (The Philippine Star)

What some people suspected happened to Susan Enriquez when she and former ABS-CBN reporter Doris Bigornia were “detained” for two nights by the Abu Sayyaf a few years ago didn’t really happen. That was when they were covering Robin Padilla’s negotiation with the rebel group for the release of a hostage.

“We were held against our will,” said Susan over lunch yesterday at The Chocolate Kiss (Roces Avenue, Quezon City) for her new show, Sus Naman, which premieres last April 8, on Q11. “Hindi na kami pinababa from their mountain lair. They were asking Doris and me to sleep separately pero hindi kami pumayag.”

So, contrary to the rumor, “nothing untoward” happened.

“The Abu Sayyaf were kidding us. Sabi nila, paiwanan ako but I told them, ‘May anak ako.’ Sabi nila, ‘Magkaka-anak ka pa ng marami dito,” meaning many children by different fathers. “You know what could happen kapag naiwan ka doon.”

That was one of Susan’s unforgettable experiences as field reporter of GMA for more than two decades now, starting from being a news writer (initially with D’Wan radio for one year) until she rose to become a radio/TV host, for Kay Susan Tayo (which recently ended after more than six years on TV) and for the dzBB late morning program Si Susan Na, Si Arnell Pa (co-host Arnell Ignacio is on leave because he’s running for councilor in Quezon City, with Rowena Salvacion pitching in for him).

Probably one of the, if not the most, daring woman in Philippine media, the 4’11 “tall” Susan — aptly described as “small but terrible” — one time found herself and her crew stuck in a flash flood in Nueva Ecija and, in another coverage, caught in a shootout between the police and CAFGU members in Camp Abubakar.

In Sus Naman, Susan doesn’t have to put her life on the line.

While Kay Susan Tayo featured human-interest stories, Sus Naman, a 30-minute public-service program, aims “to hear out and eventually help solve the problems of the everyday Pinoys, and to give credit to concerned agencies when complaints are addressed and solved as well as to individuals who do what is right.”

The show’s format is right along Susan’s alley. As dramatized in Mel Tiangco’s defunct TV show Magpakailanman, Susan rose from the masa. Born and raised both in Laguna and Cavite, Susan Sedillo helped her family make ends meet by selling fish in the market. After supporting herself through college, graduating with a Masscom degree from Lyceum, she worked as news writer at D’Wan radio for one year before she moved to GMA, her “one and only home” since then (1989). TV5 dangled a juicy offer before her but Susan politely said no.

Because she has the same surname as Mike Enriquez, SVP for Radio Operations (GMA Network), people think that Susan is the wife of Mike or maybe the sister?

“I just happen to be married to an Enriquez,” said Susan (who has an 18-year-old daughter, her only child), “but Mike and I are not related.” But how she wished!

And, by the way, did you know that Susan has been invited several times by different political parties to run? No way, said Susan. If she ever would, she’d have a very catchy “battlecry” — yes, Kay Susan Tayo!

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