Social media count Erwin Tulfo’s false claims

The conflict between good and evil is very real. We are told that this conflict began before the creation of man and continues in much worse form until the present. History even tells us that the root of evil and sin ironically began in the most perfect of places. In our day and age, there is no more profound war between good and bad in the way things are reported in the social media. It is getting difficult to discern what is correct information which is supposed to be the “Good” from the so-called disinformation which must be the evil.

The case of Partylist Congressman Erwin Tulfo is in point. On one hand, social media carried a news item that the United States Embassy in Manila officially revoked the US Passport of Congressman Tulfo because it was fraudulently obtained. To avoid the possibility of any inaccurate statement, I quote what I read from an FB post, thus: “xxx Tulfo obtained a fraudulent U.S. birth certificate by falsely claiming he was born in Hawaii on December 30, 1965. Most recently, during a visa application on September 14, 2022, he admitted that his actual birthplace was Tacloban City, further supporting allegations of material misrepresentation. xx The Embassy revoked Tulfo's passport pursuant to 22 C.F.R. § 51.62(a)(2), which allows for revocation when passports are obtained illegally, fraudulently, or erroneously. All U.S. passports issued under Tulfo's name have been invalidated, and he has been directed to surrender them immediately.”

Was the FB post a true report and could be good? Or was it false, rather disinformation and therefore it could be considered as evil? Upon my scrolling, an Inquirer.net post reported that “House Deputy Majority Leader and ACT-CIS Party-list Rep. Erwin Tulfo has admitted that he was once an undocumented worker in the United States. The confession comes as questions about his citizenship were brought out ahead of his senatorial bid. xx According to Tulfo, he was a TNT or ‘tago nang tago’ — a colloquial term for a Filipino undocumented worker in the US who hides from immigration officials to avoid deportation.” Then the Inquirer.net proceeded to quote Tulfo in his radio program Punto Asintado saying: “I did not violate any law in our country. I did not trick people, even a single Filipino. Even in America, when I was there, I did not scam or trick Filipinos or Americans. I did not fool anyone. xx That’s the only mistake that I did – I was an undocumented worker.”

When I continued scrolling, I came upon a Vera Files post on January 20, 2025, which reported that “Responding to reports based on supposedly leaked documents that he had obtained American citizenship fraudulently, ACT-CIS Party-list Rep. Erwin Tulfo claimed he “did not scam… did not deceive” anyone. This is false. Tulfo admitted he was an undocumented alien who illegally worked in the United States for 10 years, having entered the country as a tourist.”

True to the OFF TANGENT nature of this column, I am not much concerned whether Congressman Tulfo falsely declared that he did not “deceive anyone” while staying in America as undocumented foreigner. To me, that is not the issue. I would rather focus on the qualifications of a senator. The Constitution requires that for a person to qualify to run for senator he must be a natural-born citizen.

When Tulfo was quoted saying in his radio program that he “went to the U.S. Embassy, I applied as a tourist, for a tourist visa… I left the Philippines to become a TNT in America” he had in mind his candidacy for senator and he certainly wanted to impress upon us that he remained a natural-born Filipino to comply with the constitution. Analogous to William Tell’s pulling two arrows from his quiver, Tulfo strived hard to address the Vera Files comment - “this is false” and his Filipino citizenship.

I discern that the social media reports telling me the kind of falsehood Erwin Tulfo fabricated make him unsuitable to become senator.