By: Aliahcorr Balanon
Facebook Post: ACT CIS Partylist
A disqualification case was filed on Monday, Feb. 17, against senatorial candidates Erwin Tulfo, Ben Tulfo, and three other relatives from ACT-CIS, following election watchdog Kontra Daya’s study, revealing more than half of 156 partylists tied to political clans.
55.13% of partylist groups were backed by political families, including 4Ps Partylist, FPJ Panday Bayanihan, Tingog Sinirangan, and Anti-Crime and Terrorism Community Involvement and Support Partylist (ACT-CIS).
FPJ Panday Bayanihan is a newcomer in the partylist race claiming to advocate civic unity and community service among Filipinos, while the other three groups belong to the top five most voted partylist groups in the 2022 elections.
Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia mentioned the disqualification case filed by Virgilio Garcia against the Tulfo clan will be assigned to the two divisions in the poll body.
Among Erwin Tulfo and his brother Ben Tulfo, Quezon City, 2nd District Rep. Jocelyn Pua-Tulfo, Rep. Ralph Wendel Tulfo and Wanda Tulfo-Teo (Turismo partylist nominee) were also named in the disqualification petition.
Article II Section 26 of the 1987 Constitution, mandates that “The state shall guarantee equal access to all opportunities for public service and prohibit political dynasties as may be defined by law,” which the petition cited.
Garcia said in a statement dated Nov. 12 that the Comelec cannot decide on its own when it came to the eligibility of Erwin’s candidacy for senator, implying that the case needs further legal review.
“Even if a personality might have an issue, we would have to accept their certificate of candidacy,” Garcia stated.
Meanwhile, Ben Tulfo rejected the political dynasty tag against them in an interview after filing his COC in 2024.
“As to the question of dynasty. Yes, we're [a] dynasty in terms of helping people – in the media first,” he said.
Ben noted that the Tulfo brothers do not have a district which he said enables local elective officials to form a dynasty,. ‘It just happened that they are in the same profession.’
“Just like the family of lawyers. Everybody wants to be a lawyer because the daddy was a lawyer, the mom was a lawyer, so everybody calls them family [of] lawyers. Sometimes a family of doctors, [a] family of engineers. Because of the influence of a member of the family, we decided to love the profession and respect the profession and value the particular profession. How can you call that a dynasty?” he added.
Garcia highlighted the Supreme Court’s ruling on Comelec’s role being ‘ministerial’ as a poll body in accepting COCs and acting on disqualification petitions filed by a registered voter.
An official date for the Tulfos’ disqualification proceedings has yet to be announced as of writing.