Raffy Tulfo

Rafael Teshiba Tulfo (born March 12, 1960) is a Filipino politician, broadcast journalist, and media personality currently serving as a Senator of the Philippines since 2022.

Raffy Tulfo was born as Rafael Teshiba Tulfo in Quezon City on March 12, 1960.

He is the son of Ramon Tulfo Sr., a colonel in the Philippine Constabulary, and Caridad Teshiba-Tulfo, a housewife.

He is the eighth out of ten siblings which includes broadcasters Ramon, Ben, and Erwin as well as former tourism secretary Wanda Corazon Teo.

A college dropout, Tulfo spent four years in different universities and studied several majors including economics, political science, agribusiness and commerce but did not finish a degree before becoming a journalist.

On October 2, 2021, Tulfo filed his certificate of candidacy for senator as an independent candidate for the 2022 senatorial election.

On February 8, 2022, he joined the senatorial slate of presidential candidate Manny Pacquiao.

Tulfo finished in third place, receiving

23,396,954 votes, and was proclaimed as Senator on May 18, 2022.

Tulfo was later elected as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy.

At the start of the 19th Congress in July 2022, Tulfo filed his priority bills which include protecting Filipino workers from abusive employers and providing discounts for poor job applicants.

He also filed a bill amending the Anti-Violence Against Women and Children Act to protect all family members from violence.

Amid rising electricity rates in Mindanao and other parts of the Philippines in August 2022, Tulfo called for a Senate investigation into the rotational blackouts in the country and filed a Senate resolution seeking to avert the imminent energy crisis.

In 2023, Tulfo filed a bill legalizing and regulating the underground importation of ukay-ukay second-hand products which already evolved as part of Filipino culture.

He later filed a bill mandating all providers of critical infrastructure services such as power generation and distribution, water supply, healthcare, transportation, communications, and financial services to respond within two hours from the time of emergency service requests.

He also filed a bill establishing security monitoring systems such as CCTV cameras in all prison cells to ensure the safety of inmates and prison personnel.

Between February and April, Tulfo filed Senate resolutions seeking to probe reports of bullying within the hospital hierarchy, investigate reported delays of the Social Security System in processing retirement and death claims of its members, conduct an inquiry into reported inhumane treatment of patients and possible corruption at the National Center for Mental Health, and investigate "arrogant and condescending" government employees which he says are creating "an atmosphere of fear and mistrust" in government institutions.

Amid several power outages in Luzon and growing tension between the Philippines and China in May 2023, Tulfo filed a senate resolution investigating the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines to verify if it poses a threat to national security for being 40 percent owned by the State Grid Corporation of China.

Tulfo is married to Jocelyn Pua, the incumbent representative for ACT-CIS Partylist since 1993.

They had two wedding ceremonies – at the Office of the Municipal Circuit Trial Court in Luna, Isabela on June 24, 1993, and at the Little Quiapo restaurant in Quezon City on January 20, 1995.

From 1996 to 1999, Tulfo wrote a series of articles in his Abante Tonite column alleging anomalous and illegal activities by officials of the Bureau of Customs.

Tulfo, together with publisher Allen Macasaet and managing editor Nicolas Quijano Jr., were charged with libel by customs lawyer Carlos So on April 12, 1999.

On March 24, 2004, Tulfo published an article in his Abante Tonite column accusing businessman Michael Guy of seeking help from former finance secretary Juanita Amatong to halt a tax fraud investigation by the Department of Finance’s Revenue Integrity Protection Service (RIPS).

The claim was proven false, however, as the RIPS only investigates government officials and did not have jurisdiction over Guy.

On February 28, 2005, the Pasay City Regional Trial Court found Tulfo, Macasaet and Quiano guilty of 14 counts of libel and were sentenced to up to 32 years of imprisonment and ordered to pay a fine of 14700000 PHP total.

On June 29, 2021, the Supreme Court acquitted Tulfo of the libel charges.

In January 2007, Tulfo and his brothers Ramon and Erwin, each posted bail after a Quezon City Regional Trial Court judge issued warrants for their arrests following a libel complaint by then-first gentleman Mike Arroyo.

The brothers had previously accused Arroyo of using his influence to force the government-sequestered station RPN to cancel their investigative news program ''Isumbong Mo!

(Tulfo Brothers).'' On July 16, 2007, the libel case against the brothers was dismissed.

On February 24, 2010, the Makati Regional Trial Court convicted Tulfo and seven representatives from Abante 's publisher of libel and were ordered to pay a total of 10,211,200 PHP to Michael Guy for damages and attorney's fees.

The policeman, who appeared in a November 15, 2011, episode of T3, also filed an MTRCB complaint against the brothers after being called a "thief" on air which contributed to a 20-day suspension of the program.

On April 18, 2022, Tulfo's Senate bid faced a disqualification case due his conviction for the crime of libel.

In 2023, the Daily Tribune reported that Raffy Tulfo has been a product endorser of the 1UP brand by Superbreakthrough Enterprises, a company which the Securities and Exchange Commission has issued a cease and desist order for illegally soliciting investments.

Tulfo's camp has reasoned that his endorsement is on assuring the quality of 1UP products rather than the operations of Superbreakthrough.

His works are focused on government and private sector issues, and he is best known as the host of the long-running public affairs radio program Wanted sa Radyo, and the former anchor of Aksyon sa Tanghali from 2014 to 2020 that featured the segment "Ipa-Raffy Tulfo Mo".

His YouTube channel Raffy Tulfo in Action, which features videos from both shows, is the third-most subscribed Filipino YouTube channel as of 2021.

Tulfo sought a seat in the Philippine senate in the 2022 election and won placing third overall with 23 million votes.

Tulfo serves as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Senate Committee on Migrant Workers.

In June 2014, Tulfo again posted bail for an arrest warrant issued by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court after Senior Police Officer III Abubakhar Manlangit filed a libel case against him and his brother Erwin.

In July 2019, the Supreme Court upheld the conviction and increased the amount of damages needed to be paid.