Yes, kay Susan tayo!

MANILA, Philippines - Susan Enriquez is often mistaken as the wife of Mike Enriquez.

“My maiden name is Sevillo,” she says. “It’s my ex-husband who’s an Enriquez and our marriage has already been annulled.”

Susan is a single mom and her only daughter is now 19, taking up international studies at Miriam College.

She hosted Kay Susan Tayo on GMA 7 for six years. It won the Best Informative Show award in the Catholic Mass Media Awards, while she was named Best Lifestyle Show Host in the Star Awards.

She doesn’t really miss it as she now has I Juander with Cesar Apolinario on GMA News TV Channel 11, seen Mondays at 10 p.m.

On radio, she’s now hosting solo the program Si Susan Na! on GMA Network’s flagship AM radio station, Super Radyo DZBB 594khz. It is an infotainment show on the 11 a.m. to 12 noon timeslot that she used to host with Arnell Ignacio, who has since moved to another network. Her show comes after the news programs of Mike Enriquez and Arnold Clavio.

“Pagdating sa akin, my listeners are mostly housewives and moms. So I talk about home-related topics like nutrition, family relationships, health care and consumer goods,” she says. “I give timely tips, like what I learned from the Department of Trade & Industry: Do your Christmas shopping now because when December comes, tataas pa ang presyo ng commodities by 25 percent. I also invite resource persons to help me discuss current issues and hot topics, like what happened to the Ram Revilla case wherein the accused are siblings of the victim. I got experts to help me tackle the subject of sibling rivalry.”

What’s a typical day for her? “As a GMA News reporter, my regular working hours are from 12 noon to 8 p.m. and I’m usually home by 9 p.m. But since I’m also in Unang Hirit, I wake up at 3:30 a.m. to be on the set before 5 a.m.”

Born on May 24 (“Don’t ask what year,” she tells us), she’s the eldest in a brood of six and the only girl. She finished journalism at Lyceum in 1986. She worked with IBC Radio for a while then moved to GMA in 1989 as a writer-reporter.

A fringe benefit of her work is having the opportunity to travel to many foreign lands while she’s on an assignment, like the US, England, France, Japan, Australia and various Asian countries.

She also did docus for I-Witness and worked with Arnold in Emergency.

What are the most memorable stories she handled? “The Leo Echegaray case in 1999, the World Trade Center bombing in New York, the tsunami coverage in Thailand and my encounter with the Abu Sayyaf na binihag kami at may rebeldeng nagkagusto sa ’kin.”

Until when does she see herself as an active broadcaster? “I really love what I’m doing so basta kaya ko pa, go lang ng go!”