Tulfos seeks reinvestigation of grave threats case

MANILA, Philippines - The camp of brothers Erwin, Raffy, and Ben Tulfo will ask the Quezon City Metropolitan Trial Court to order the reinvestigation of the grave threats case filed against them by couple Raymart Santiago and Claudine Barretto.

Nelson Borja, Erwin’s lawyer, told The STAR yesterday they will file a motion for reinvestigation, saying that they were not aware of the schedule of the preliminary investigation hearings.

“We have not received any copy of the affidavit of the complainants,” Borja added.

On Friday, Assistant City Prosecutor Rowena Balagtas recommended the filing of grave threats charges for threatening the Santiago couple in their television show “T3” last May.

In her resolution, Balagtas said found probable cause to file two counts of grave threats against Erwin and Raffy and one count for Ben before the Metropolitan Trial Court for uttering threats that “alluded the infliction of physical harm upon complainant spouses.”

Balagtas noted that the Tulfo brothers failed to appear during the three scheduled preliminary investigation hearings despite notice.

“Through the demeanor, facial expression and vocal timbre of respondents when the threats were made, it can be deduced that the threats were made with deliberate purpose of creating in the minds of the persons to whom it was addressed the belief that the threats would be carried into effect,” she said.

The case stemmed from the threats uttered by the brothers in their television show on May 7, 2012, a day after the couple figured in an altercation at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) with Mon Tulfo, the older brother of the respondents.

Balagtas noted parts of the alleged statements of the brothers as threatening, including Erwin’s advice to the couple not to leave the country because they will get hurt if they meet at the airport; Raffy’s statement telling them to light a candle and pray that their paths would not cross; and Ben’s challenge for a one-on-one with Raymart inside a closed warehouse.

The prosecutor, meanwhile, dropped the charges of slander, noting that the statements of the respondents “cannot be considered as seriously insulting considering the previous incident of violent altercation between respondents’ brother Mon and the complainant spouses at the NAIA.”

The couple’s lawyer, Alex Avisado, said they were “fortunate and thankful” that the prosecutor recommended the filing of charges against the Tulfo brothers.

“Now that the case is in court, we expect both parties to face each other during trial where mediation is always an option,” Avisado said.