Erwin Tulfo

Erwin Teshiba Tulfo was born in Tacloban on August 10, 1964,^[12] He has eight siblings, among whom include Tuchi, Bong, Joseph, Edelle, Ramon, Ben, and Raffy Tulfo, who are all his fellow journalists.^[13] His brother, Raffy, is an incumbent senator, while his sister, Wanda Corazon Teo, was a tourism secretary during the Duterte administration.^[14]

During his unsuccessful 2022 congressional confirmation hearings for secretary of social welfare and development, Tulfo was alleged by representatives Oscar Malapitan (Caloocan–1st) and Rodante Marcoleta (SAGIP) to have served in the United States Army from 1988 to 1992 and assigned on a tour in Europe from 1992 to 1996.^[15] He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of the East in 2005. He is the host of his public service brand Mission X, which eventually evolved into the Erwin Tulfo Action Center.^[16]

Secretary of Social Welfare and Development (2022)

In 2022, Tulfo was appointed secretary of social welfare and development by then-President-elect Bongbong Marcos in May 2022.^[17] However, on December 27, 2022, his appointment was blocked and bypassed by the Commission on Appointments due to citizenship issues.

House of Representatives (2023–2025)

On May 30, 2023, Tulfo took oath as a representative of ACT-CIS Partylist, a week after a disqualification case against him was junked by the Commission on Elections.^[18] On July 20, 2023, Comelec issued a certificate of proclamation to Tulfo, naming him as the third nominee of ACT-CIS, replacing Jeffrey Soriano, who had resigned in February 2023.^[19] Tulfo took oath once again as a partylist representative on July 31, 2023, and was named as a House Deputy Majority Leader on August 9, 2023.^[20][21]

Senate of the Philippines (2025–present)

On September 26, 2024, Tulfo was officially introduced as part of Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas senatorial slate for the 2025 Senate election.^[22] Tulfo later filed his candidacy to run for senator on October 6, 2024.^[12] He was elected and placed fourth.^[23]

During the 20th Congress of the Philippines, Tulfo was named chairperson of the Senate committees on Games and Amusement and Social Justice, Welfare and Rural Development, as well as the vice chairperson of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee.^[24] He later became the acting chairperson of the Blue Ribbon Committee between the resignation of Panfilo Lacson as its chairperson on October 5, 2025, and Lacson's reinstatement on November 11, 2025.^[25]

Summarize Timeline Fact Check

In 2008, Tulfo was found guilty by the Supreme Court of the Philippines of four counts of libel and was sentenced to pay a fine of ₱6,000 for each count and, along with his co-accused, ₱1,000,000 to the complainant as moral damages. The cases stemmed from multiple articles he wrote and published in the tabloid Remate which accused a Bureau of Customs official of being "an extortionist, a corrupt public official, smuggler and having illegally acquired wealth".^[26][27]

During the aftermath of the 2010 Manila hostage crisis, Tulfo was severely criticized for his on-air phone interview with hostage-taker Rolando Mendoza which was said to have escalated the incident leading to the deaths of eight hostages.^[28][29][30]

In 2018, it was revealed by the Commission on Audit that the Department of Tourism (DOT), then headed by Tulfo's sister Wanda, paid around ₱60 million to Bitag Media Unlimited Inc., a media outfit headed by their brother Ben, to place tourism ads on Kilos Pronto, a blocktimer show on PTV hosted by Tulfo.^[31] The transactions were not supported with proper documents such as a memorandum of agreement or contract. On May 8, Wanda Tulfo Teo resigned from her post.^[31][32][33] She stressed that she did not know that her brothers were running the television show^[34] and that it was a government-to-government contract between the tourism department and People's Television Network.^[31] The Tulfo brothers afterwards promised that they will return the ₱60 million.^[35][36] However, on June 17, 2018, it was revealed that they have not yet returned the money they received from the DOT.^[37] In August 2018, then-Senator Antonio Trillanes IV declared that he will press plunder charges against the Tulfo siblings.^[38]

On May 31, 2019, Tulfo made an on-air tirade against Social Welfare Secretary and retired Army Commanding General Rolando Bautista for refusing to interview with him.^[39] A few days later, thousands signed a petition demanding Tulfo to apologize.^[40] The Philippine Military Academy Alumni Association condemned Tulfo's remarks against the former Philippine Army chief.^[41] Tulfo has apologized to Bautista for his remarks.^[42]

In 2022, Tulfo's citizenship was disputed when he was appointed Secretary of Social Welfare and Development by then-President-elect Bongbong Marcos in May 2022.^[17][43] In December, the Commission on Appointments bypassed his appointment for the second time due to his American citizenship, which he had admitted to have from 1986 to renouncing it in early 2022,^[43] and his conviction on four counts of libel.^[44]

In 2024, the Court of Appeals dismissed GMA Network's petition for review on the alleged 'stolen video' libel case against Tulfo involving the 2004 kidnapping of Angelo dela Cruz.^[45]

Tulfo is also a franchisee and endorser of Siomai King, a food cart business selling Philippine siomai.^[46]

Tulfo met newscaster Karen Padilla at ABS-CBN in the 1990s, whom he later married.^[47] They have two daughters: Erika (born January 2004) and Erin.^[48]

In 2022, Tulfo admitted to having a total of ten children with four women.^[49] In October 2024, Tulfo listed Rizalina Aquino as his wife in his certificate of candidacy for senator in the 2025 elections.^[2]

Television

More information Year, Title ...

Year	Title	Character
1987–1992	PTV Weekend Report	News anchor
1987–1995	Pangunahing Balita
1995–1996	Magandang Umaga Po	Host
1996–2006	Alas Singko y Medya/Magandang Umaga Bayan/Magandang Umaga, Pilipinas
1996–2004	ABS-CBN Weekend News	News anchor
1995–1999	Hoy Gising!	Himself
1999–2000	Mission–X	Host
2000–2002	Pangako Sa 'Yo	Himself (Cameo)
2001–2005	Magandang Gabi, Bayan	Host
2003–2005	Private I.[50]	Host
2004–2005	TV Patrol Sabado/Linggo (now TV Patrol Weekend)	News anchor
2004–2005	ABS-CBN Insider	News anchor
2005–2006	Isumbong Mo: Tulfo Brothers	Himself
2006–2007	RPN NewsWatch Aksyon Balita	News anchor
2007–2009	Bitag	Co-host
2010–2017	Aksyon	News anchor
2010–2012	Tutok Tulfo	Host
2010–2011	Sapul sa Singko	Host/Anchor
2011–2016	T3: Alliance	Host
2013–2014	Good Morning Club	Host/Anchor
2014–2016	Yaman ng Bayan	Host
2017–2018	Kilos Pronto	Co-host
	PTV News	News anchor
2020–2022	Ulat Bayan	News anchor
2025	Arangkada Balita	News anchor

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PMPC Star Awards for Television

• Best Male Newscaster (2014,^[51] 2015^[52] and 2016)

Inding-Indie Short Film Festival

• Asian Best Broadcasters Award (2015)^[53]
• Most Trusted Media Personalities for Radio and Television Award (2016)

• Official website
• Media related to Erwin Tulfo at Wikimedia Commons