Erwin Teshiba Tulfo () is a Filipino
news anchor
A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...
, broadcaster, and columnist who was the
Secretary of Social Welfare and Development
The secretary of Social Welfare and Development ( Filipino: ''Kalihim ng Kagalingang Panlipunan at Pagpapaunlad'') is the head of the Department of Social Welfare and Development and is a member of the President's Cabinet.
The current officer- ...
from June 30, 2022, under the
presidency of
Bongbong Marcos
Ferdinand "Bongbong" Romualdez Marcos Jr. ( , , ; born September 13, 1957), commonly referred to by the initials PBBM or BBM, is a Filipino politician who is the 17th and current president of the Philippines. He previously served as a sena ...
until December 27, 2022 due to his appointment being blocked and bypassed by the Commission on Appointments.
He previously worked with
PTV's flagship primetime news program ''
Ulat Bayan
''Ulat Bayan'' () is the flagship national primetime newscast of PTV, Originally anchored by Aljo Bendijo and Catherine Vital, it premiered on July 10, 2017, replacing ''PTV News'' and was replaced by the weekday edition of ''PTV News'' later ...
'' and one of its AM radio counterpart
Radyo Pilipinas (RP1)'s ''Tutok Erwin Tulfo''. He was the host of ''
Tutok Tulfo
{{Infobox television
, image =
, genre = News
, camera = Multiple-camera setup
, picture_format = 480i SDTV
, creator = Associated Broadcasting Company
, developer = News5
, pre ...
'', co-host of ''T3: Kapatid Sagot Kita!'' together with his brothers Raffy and Ben, and one of news anchors of
Aksyon on
TV5. He has also worked for
ABS-CBN
ABS-CBN (an initialism of its two predecessors' names, Alto Broadcasting System and Chronicle Broadcasting Network) is a Philippine commercial broadcast network that serves as the flagship property of ABS-CBN Corporation, a company under ...
,
Radio Philippines Network
Radio Philippines Network, Inc. (RPN) is a Philippine Media of the Philippines, television and radio company based in Quezon City. It is the flagship media property of Nine Media Corporation of the ALC Group of Companies; along with the Pre ...
(RPN), and
Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation (IBC).
Biography
Tulfo is the son of Colonel Ramon Silvestre Tulfo Sr., who was a member of
Philippine Constabulary, and Caridad Teshiba-Tulfo, a housewife. His brothers include
Ramon,
Ben
Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett or Benson, and is also a given name in its own right.
Ben (in he, בֶּן, ''son of'') forms part of Hebrew surnames, e.g. Abraham ben Abraham ( h ...
, and
Raffy Tulfo Raffy is a given name and a nickname. It may refer to:
*Rafael Palmeiro (born 1964), Cuban former Major League Baseball player
* Ken Raffensberger (1917–2002), American Major League Baseball pitcher
*Raffaella Rossi (born 1974), Italian ski mount ...
, who is also an incumbent senator. His sister,
Wanda Corazon Teo
Wanda Corazon Teshiba Tulfo-Teo (; born November 4, 1952) is a Filipino travel agent who served as Secretary of the Philippines' Department of Tourism under the Duterte administration from July 2016 until her resignation on May 8, 2018.
Early ...
, was a
tourism secretary during the
Duterte administration.
He served in the United States Army from 1988 to 1992. 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, which is currently inactive due to his present appointment in the Marcos Jr. administration.
He was appointed
DSWD
The Philippines' Department of Social Welfare and Development ( fil, Kagawaran ng Kagalingan at Pagpapaunlad Panlipunan, Kagawaran ng Kagalingang Panlipunan at Pagpapaunlad, abbreviated as DSWD) is the executive department of the Philippine Go ...
Secretary by then-President-elect
Bongbong Marcos
Ferdinand "Bongbong" Romualdez Marcos Jr. ( , , ; born September 13, 1957), commonly referred to by the initials PBBM or BBM, is a Filipino politician who is the 17th and current president of the Philippines. He previously served as a sena ...
in May 2022.
Controversies
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 for each count and, along with his co-accused, 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".
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.
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
Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett or Benson, and is also a given name in its own right.
Ben (in he, בֶּן, ''son of'') forms part of Hebrew surnames, e.g. Abraham ben Abraham ( h ...
, to place tourism ads on ''
Kilos Pronto,'' a blocktimer show on PTV-4 hosted by Tulfo.
The transactions were not supported with proper documents such as a memorandum of agreement or contract. On May 8,
Wanda Tulfo Teo
Wanda Corazon Teshiba Tulfo-Teo (; born November 4, 1952) is a Filipino travel agent who served as Secretary of the Philippines' Department of Tourism under the Duterte administration from July 2016 until her resignation on May 8, 2018.
Early ...
resigned from her post.
She stressed that she did not know that her brothers were running the television show and that it was a government-to-government contract between the tourism department and
People's Television Network.
The Tulfo brothers afterwards promised that they will return the . However, on June 17, 2018, it was revealed that they have not yet returned the money they received from the DOT. In August 2018, then-Senator
Antonio Trillanes IV declared that he will press
plunder
Looting is the act of stealing, or the taking of goods by force, typically in the midst of a military, political, or other social crisis, such as war, natural disasters (where law and civil enforcement are temporarily ineffective), or rioting. ...
charges against the Tulfo siblings.
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. A few days later, thousands signed a petition demanding Tulfo to apologize.
The
Philippine Military Academy Alumni Association condemned Tulfo's remarks against the former
Philippine Army chief. Tulfo has apologized to Bautista for his remarks.
Filmography
Television
Radio
Awards
;PMPC Star Awards for Television
*Best Male Newscaster (2014, 2015 and 2016)
;Inding-Indie Short Film Festival
*Asian Best Broadcasters Award (2015)
*Most Trusted Media Personalities for Radio and Television Award (2016)
References
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tulfo, Erwin
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Bongbong Marcos administration cabinet members
Filipino radio journalists
Filipino television news anchors
Filipino YouTubers
People from Metro Manila
Erwin
United States Army soldiers
IBC News and Public Affairs people
ABS-CBN personalities
ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs people
TV5 (Philippine TV network) personalities
News5 people
People's Television Network
Filipino Roman Catholics
University of the East alumni