Do we like Raffy Tulfo?
Our score: 6 out of 10. A long public-service record and no harmful words found, held back by a libel judgment, a teacher-shaming apology and a blank on LGBTQ+ issues.
Raffy Tulfo comes from the Philippines' Tulfo broadcasting clan, alongside brothers Ramon, Ben and Erwin. A college dropout, he built a huge audience with public-service radio, TV and YouTube shows that chase down ordinary people's complaints. In 2022 he ran as an independent and finished third with more than 23 million votes, and he now chairs the Senate committees on Energy and Migrant Workers.
His biggest legal stain is old but real. A 2004 column of his in the tabloid Abante accused a businessman of asking a finance secretary to intervene in a tax investigation, and the court found there was no such investigation. He was convicted of libel in 2010, and in 2019 the Supreme Court upheld the guilty finding and set damages at P1.71 million. It's a fair snapshot of a career built on fast, loud accusations.
The on-air style has cost him before. In 2019 a Grade 2 teacher was reportedly asked on his show to choose, on the spot, between facing charges and giving up her licence. The Education department said that approach went against its policy and denied her due process. After a wave of backlash he apologised, though a teachers' group lawmaker called the apology trash.
On the harm test, we found nothing nasty about LGBTQ+ people, women, migrants or the planet in what we read, and he chairs the migrant workers committee. The gap is that we didn't find his own statement or vote on the SOGIE equality bill, so we can't tell you where he stands. Plenty of fake stuff circulates in his name too: VERA Files rated a quote card about Duterte as fake, and he called it fake news himself.
The recent stuff is all impeachment politics. In 2025 he said he would oppose dismissing the case against Sara Duterte, arguing she should get a trial to prove her innocence. In June 2026 he warned that witnesses in the flood-control probe needed vetting before their claims were believed, and in October he pushed for the impeachment court's spokesperson to be sanctioned. His fans see principle, and his opponents see a man picking sides, so you can read it either way.
The good stuff is the day job. He inspected the Cebu North Bus Terminal in 2025 and flagged toilet-fee and safety problems, and the transport regulator ordered a show-cause response. He has pushed OFW protection bills too. In February 2026 he even criticised police for parading a vlogger's face, saying public shaming of a suspect was uncalled for, which sits awkwardly beside his own history.