Erwin Tulfo 'hurt' by 3 senators' vote backing ouster petition

Sen. Erwin Tulfo on Monday said he was hurt by the reported vote of three fellow senators in favor of a petition seeking to unseat him.

This came after the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) denied a motion for reconsideration seeking to reverse its earlier dismissal of a quo warranto petition seeking to unseat Tulfo over alleged citizenship issues, among other grounds.

The motion was denied with six SET members voting in favor and three against.

“Alam mo, ipapasa-Diyos ko na lang ‘yan. Medyo nasaktan lang ho ako dahil dalawa po doon sa tatlo—’yung isa talagang ganoon na ho talaga ang ugali, wala naman tayong magagawa, medyo may sama ng loob yata sa akin—pero ‘yung dalawa, lalo na ho ‘yung isa, niyayakap ko pa, nagkakamayan pa ho kami… halos magkadikit ho ang opisina namin,” Tulfo said in an interview on Super Radyo dzBB.

(You know, I’ll just leave it to God. I was a bit hurt because of the three, I already know what one of them is like, and there’s nothing we can do about it. That person may have some ill feelings toward me. But the other two—especially one of them—we still embrace and shake hands. Our offices are practically next to each other.)

Tulfo also hinted that one of the senators involved was a woman who had been his colleague in the House of Representatives.

“’Yung babae naman ho, ‘yung isa pa naman eh kasamahan ko dati sa Kongreso, pagkatapos po eh nag-uusap naman ho kami eh,” he said.

(As for the woman, she was a former colleague of mine in Congress, and we still talked to each other.)

“Dati may issue ho siya. Noong medyo may problema, binati ko ho, ’di niya ako binati. Pero after one week, pinansin niya ho, sabi niya, ‘Sorry ha, sir, dami lang running from my mind.’ Sabi ko, ‘It’s okay, Sen, no problem.’ Sabi niya, ‘Basta we’re friends.’ Sabi ko, ‘Sure.’ Kaya nagulat ako sa balita,” he added.

(There was an issue involving her before. When she was having problems, I greeted her, but she did not respond. A week later, she spoke to me and apologized, saying she had a lot on her mind. I told her it was okay. She assured me that we were friends, and I agreed. That’s why I was surprised by the news.)

Over the weekend, Tulfo, a neophyte senator, posted a cartoon on his official Facebook page depicting three individuals preparing to stab him in the back. The arms holding the knives bore the names “Sen. Padilla,” “Sen. Villar” and “Sen. Pia.”

A speech bubble above the three arms read, “Alisin yan sa Senado!!” (Remove him from the Senate!)

The SET is composed of three Supreme Court justices and six senators. Senators Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, Bam Aquino and Lito Lapid represent the majority bloc, while Senators Pia Cayetano, Robin Padilla and Camille Villar represent the minority.

Tulfo, however, said he could not confirm the identities of the three SET members who allegedly opposed him, adding that the voting details were supposed to remain confidential.

“Tatlong Supreme Court associate justice ang bumoto na ibasura at tatlong majority. Silang tatlo daw, hindi. Pero hindi ko ma-confirm ’yun dahil confidential ’yan eh. Pero ’yun ho ang lumalabas ngayon,” he said.

(Three Supreme Court associate justices voted to dismiss the motion, along with three senators from the majority bloc. The three senators reportedly said they did not vote against me. But I cannot confirm that because the information is confidential. Still, that is what is coming out now.)

“Eh kung ganoon nga ho ’yan na sila nga, eh medyo nasaktan tayo. Kaya ipapasa-Diyos ko na lang ho ’yan, may karma naman ho eh,” he added.

(If they really were the ones involved, then I would be hurt. So I’ll just leave it to God. There is such a thing as karma, after all.)

GMA News Online has reached out to the offices of Padilla, Villar and Cayetano and will update this story once they issue a response.

On Saturday, Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson also questioned the motives behind the votes of three SET members who reportedly belonged to the minority bloc.

“Justice and fairness went out of the window when three minority senator-members voted in favor of an out-of-time motion for reconsideration filed by a petitioner without legal standing. Their motive may be deeper than personal issues against Sen. Tulfo,” Lacson said in a post on X.

The quo warranto petition against Tulfo was filed by Berteni Cataluña Causing, who cited the senator’s alleged American citizenship, disloyalty to the Philippines and allegiance to the United States, membership in a political dynasty, and lack of academic qualifications as grounds for his disqualification.— MCG, GMA News

Follow GMA News Online on Facebook for real-time news and developments in the Philippines and around the world.