ACT-CIS Party-list Rep. Erwin Tulfo (File photo from INQUIRER FILES)

Preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed the trade-in-goods balance — the difference between exports and imports — amounted to a $4.38 billion deficit in August, narrowing from the $4.89-billion shortfall recorded in the previous month. However, this was still higher compared to the $4.11 deficit in August 2023.

MANILA, Philippines — 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 (US).

The confession comes as questions about his citizenship were brought out ahead of his senatorial bid.

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During his radio program Punto Asintado on Monday, Tulfo tackled recent social media accusations that he supposedly tricked people into thinking he was a Filipino when he had a US passport.

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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.

“Ngayon, kine-kwestyon ako ng ilang mga vlogger […]. Sabi, ‘May karapatan pa ba yan (na) tumakbo bilang senador, bilang mataas na opisyal ng bayan natin? Walang kredibilidad. Walang integridad,'” Tulfo said.

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(Now, I am being questioned by some vloggers, asking ‘Does he still have the right to run for the Senate, as a high official of our country? No credibility. No integrity.’)

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“Kung pagiging TNT ko ho, kung pagiging undocumented alien ko po eh bawal po ako magsilbi, bawal na po ako magtrabaho sa ating bayan, na ginawa ko lang naman ‘yon para mapakain ‘yung mga anak ko […] eh kung kasalanan ho ‘yon sa tingin ninyo, then guilty po ako,” he declared.

(If my being an undocumented worker means I should not work for the country — which I just did to feed my children — if that is a crime for you, then I am guilty.)

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“Pero ito lang masasabi ko: Wala po akong nilabag na batas dito sa ating bayan. Wala po akong nilokong tao, ni isang Pilipino. Maging sa Amerika no’ng nandoon po ako. Wala po akong ini-estafa. Wala po akong in-scam na mga Pilipino, maging na mga Amerikano. Wala po akong niloko,” he added.

(But this is what I have to say: 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.)

“That’s the only mistake that I did – nag-TNT po ako,” he pointed out.

(That’s the only mistake that I did – I was an undocumented worker.)

According to Tulfo, who turned emotional during the program, he had to work as an undocumented alien so that he could help his family.

“Why is that na ngayon, ‘walang kredibilidad, walang karapatang magsilbi […].’ Kailangan po. Kapit sa patalim. I have to survive. I have to take care of my two kids and my girlfriend, my wife, before. That’s why pumunta ako (sa US),” he said.

(Why is it that now… ‘no credibility, no right to serve […].’ That was needed. I had to cling to a knife. I had to  survive. I had to take care of my two kids and my girlfriend, my wife, before. That’s why I went to the US.)

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“Kung may pera ako, I wouldn’t have gone. I wouldn’t have left. Kahit sino po yan, mga OFW (overseas Filipino worker) na yan, kung may pera ho yan, aalis ba yan? Hindi,” the lawmaker explained.

(If I had the money, I wouldn’t have gone. I wouldn’t have left the country. Whoever that is, the OFWs, if they have the money, would they get out of the country? No.)

“The point is, may dahilan po kaya umaalis ‘yung tao. Lahat ho, may dahilan. Kung mayaman ho ‘yong mga yan, aalis ba yan?” he asked.

(The point is that there is a reason why people get out of the country. Everyone has a reason. If they are rich, would they leave the country?)

Letters where the US Embassy in the Philippines supposedly informed Tulfo that his US passport was revoked have been circulating over social media during the holiday celebrations.

According to a letter dated October 11, 2022, the US government revoked the passport of a certain Erick Sylvester Tulfo as it believed this person was Rep. Tulfo.

In November 2022, discussions on Tulfo’s appointment as Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) secretary were deferred by the Commission on Appointments (CA) due to legal issues over his citizenship.

After the CA hearing, Tulfo admitted he became an American citizen in 1988, noting that he regained his Filipino citizenship in 2022 as part of the requirements for his appointment as a public official.

READ: CA defers Tulfo’s confirmation as secretary of DSWD 

The issue was raised by Caloocan City 1st District Rep. Oscar Malapitan, who said that Tulfo was a member of the US military from 1988 to 1992.

Sagip Party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta, meanwhile, said Tulfo’s records showed he was in “active military service stationed in Europe” from 1992 to 1996.

As to why he kept this issue hidden, Tulfo stressed that illegal aliens usually do not show off or brag to people that they were undocumented workers in a foreign country.

“Eh bakit mo tinago for 20 years? Hindi po ipinangangalandakan ng mga ‘ika nga undocumented alien, ng mga TNT, pero hindi ko rin ikinahihiya na once upon a time, nag-TNT ako, na once upon a time, illegal alien ako,” he noted.

(Why did you hide it for 20 years? Undocumented aliens do not discuss their past as TNTs, but I am not shy to admit that once upon a time, I was an undocumented worker, that once upon a time, I was an illegal alien.)

Tulfo believes the rumors came out only because he was ranking high in the surveys for the 2025 senatorial race.

According to a Pulse Asia survey released last October 2024, Tulfo and nine other candidates in the administration ticket entered the Magic 12.

READ: 10 Marcos-backed senatorial aspirants in winning circle of SWS survey 

A survey from Social Weather Stations, meanwhile, showed the same results, with 10 out of the top 12 spots occupied by administration stalwarts like Tulfo.

READ: SWS: Erwin Tulfo, Revilla, Go, Cayetano lead senatorial preference poll 

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Tulfo was the top choice among respondents in both surveys.

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