MANILA, Philippines — Radio broadcaster Ramon Tulfo, who is also special envoy to China, stressed that it was his brother Ben who "stole" P60 million from the government.
On June 24, the elder Tulfo tweeted about the donation of former Foreign Affairs Albert del Rosario to the 22 Filipino fishermen whose boat was rammed by a suspected Chinese militia vessel in the West Philippine Sea.
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Ramon said the act of Del Rosario in donating P500,000 to the fishermen "cheapens his act."
Former Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario donating 500k to fishermen in the Recto Bank incident cheapens his act. He should be the last to do that coming as it does in the wake of his being barred from entering Hong Kong. He should have done that before he was refused entry,
— Ramon Tulfo (@RamonTulfoII) June 24, 2019
A Twitter user replied to Ramon, pointing out that it was better to donate P500,000 to Filipino fishermen in the Recto Bank incident rather than stealing P60 million from the Philippine government.
Ramon, however, pointed out that it was his brother Ben who was involved in the controversy over an advertisement deal between state-run People's Television Network and the Department of Tourism.
"Di ako ang nagnakaw ng 60m. Kapatid kong si Ben yung tinutukoy mo (I did not steal P60 million. You are referring to my brother Ben)," Ramon said on Twitter.
Hoy, gaga! Di ako ang nagnakaw ng 60m. Kapatid kong si Ben yung tinutukoy mo.
— Ramon Tulfo (@RamonTulfoII) June 25, 2019
Earlier this month, Ramon claimed that his sister former Tourism Secretary Wanda Tulfo-Teo was just a "casualty" in the advertisement controversy.
The DOT, under the helm of Teo, placed P60-million worth of advertisements in a television program produced by her brothers Ben and Erwin Tulfo.
The deal was awarded to a program produced by Bitag Media Unlimited, Inc., which is owned by Ben.
According to Ramon, he had already asked his brother Ben to return the P60-million payment for the ads but the younger Tulfo refuses to return the money. — Patricia Lourdes Viray