Tulfo’s face disqualification case

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) reported that senatorial candidates Erwin Tulfo, his brother Ben Tulfo, and three other Tulfo family members have been charged with disqualification.

ACT-CIS Representative Jocelyn Pua-Tulfo, Quezon City 2nd District Representative Ralph Wendel Tulfo, and Turismo party-list nominee Wanda Tulfo-Teo are also named in the complaint, which was brought by petitioner Virgilio Garcia. George Erwin Garcia, the chairman of the Comelec, affirmed that the matter will be sent to the several divisions of the poll authority for evaluation.

Since the Commission on Appointments postponed Erwin Tulfo's nomination as secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development in November 2022, his citizenship has been a source of debate.

Erwin acknowledged during the hearings that he had obtained U.S. citizenship in 1988, but he claimed to have returned his Filipino citizenship in 2022 to fulfill the requirements for holding public office.

Comelec has previously stated that it cannot take any action on eligibility matters until a formal disqualification petition has been submitted, notwithstanding these admissions.

Garcia reaffirmed that Comelec has a solely ministerial role in admitting certificates of candidacy, which means that unless a registered voter files a legal case, they must approve a candidate's application.

Since he is currently leading the 2025 Senate election and is ranked as the front-runner in recent polls, Erwin Tulfo thinks that the disqualification cases and scandals have returned. According to the same polls, Ben Tulfo is among the top 12 candidates.