MANILA, Philippines ? ?We were competitors but, at the same time, associates and friends,? says award-winning broadcaster Mike Enriquez of his best buddy Dante ?Danee? Samonte, better known as radio disc jockey and concert promoter Steve O? Neal.

The two were rival DJs in the 1970s?Mike was with dwBL, Danny with dzBM, both AM stations. ?The relationship transcended professional matters,? notes Mike, now GMA 7 senior vice president for radio, and co-anchor of the network primetime TV news. ?We used to collaborate in making station IDs. We?ve always had the same interests and passions, be it in music or the arts.?

Mike recalls that it was Danny who uploaded tunes into his first-ever iPod. ?The songs were diverse?from the 1950s to those sung by boy bands today,? Mike recounts. ?Isa lang kasi ang trip naming [We like the same things]. This is also true with my two other DJ friends, Hill Billy Willy and Rudolph Rivera.?

When not busy working, Mike says he and Danny enjoy travelling together or trying out new restaurants around the city. ?He would text me to say, ?Booma [Mike?s nickname] may bago [there?s something new].? Then we try it out,? says Mike.

The circle

But Danny isn?t Mike?s only favorite dinner partner. Mike says he also goes with his wife Lizabeth, and ?24 Oras? co-anchors Mel Tiangco and Pia Guanio?almost every week. ?Mel is into steak these days,? says Mike. ?We?re looking for a good steak restaurant.?

He continues: ?When we go out, it?s pure, unadulterated bonding. We talk about work, but not in the way that we talk about it in the newsroom or in the studio. It?s good to work with people you also consider friends. Our contract doesn?t require us to be friends. I see the friendship as a huge bonus.?

Mel says she initially found Mike, her boss at RMN in the ?80s, to be ?suplado [snob].?

But now, she says, ?Our relationship is very different. We joke a lot on the set. May kanya-kanya kaming crushes [We have our crushes]. We joke about them, too. When we go out, I am the panggulo. Ako lang ang walang partner [I?m the troublemaker. I?m the only one without a partner].? (Pia is always with boyfriend Vic Sotto.)

?All my friends and I, we share the same values,? Mike points out. ?How certain things should be or shouldn?t be, for example... We enjoy the same pursuits. Friendships such as ours are meant to be.?

E-mail mcruz@inquirer.com.ph