Tulfo should resign over offensive remarks vs Filipino workers – De Lima

MANILA, Philippines — Special envoy to China Ramon Tulfo should resign if he cannot stop his offensive and baseless statements against Filipino workers, Senator Leila de Lima said Saturday.

“If Mon Tulfo cannot stop insulting Filipinos or apologize for his offensive and baseless remarks against them, he should just resign. Otherwise, he would just be another free-loader with nothing to show for his plum government position,” De Lima said in a statement.

Last week, Tulfo defended the influx of Chinese workers in the Philippines even comparing them to their Filipino counterparts.

“You know why developers prefer Chinese workers? They’re hardworking. When Filipino workers go to a job site, that’s only when they will start preparing their tools, whereas Chinese workers are already prepared. Filipino workers always smoke and keep talking,” he said in an interview with CNN Philippines’ On The Record.

READ: Tulfo: No apology for telling ‘truth’ on ‘lazy’ Filipino workers

Tulfo drew flak for his statement but refused to apologize, saying he was telling the “truth.”

“Why should I apologize to you for telling the truth that you’re basically lazy and a slowpoke? Does the truth hurt?” Tulfo said in a tweet.

De Lima then reminded Tulfo that he is not a newspaper columnist anymore as he is now a public official.

“We could have let this pass if it was only Mon Tulfo the columnist talking. After all, we were already used to his blunt language as an opinionated observer who specialized in anecdotal wisdom,” de Lima said.

She added that Tulfo is insulting workers who are paying taxes for government funds — which subsidize his salary.

“But this is already Mon Tulfo the Special Envoy to China, talking. This is already the public official, who draws his salary from government funds, funds that come from taxes paid by the same workers he attacks and vilifies as lazy,” she said.

Meanwhile, De Lima then lamented Malacañang’s reaction on Tulfo’s insult, saying it was the usual Palace response on statements made by officials under the Duterte administration.

“Instead of firing Mon Tulfo, Malacañang defends him as a public official entitled to his own opinion. This is the usual response of Malacañang to insults and offensive remarks of Duterte copycats in government,” she said.

On Monday, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said Tulfo’s remark against Filipino workers was “freedom of expression.”

He added that “everyone is entitled” to make an opinion “on any matter” about “the country” or “anybody.” /muf

READ: Palace: Tulfo’s ‘lazy’ Filipino workers remark ‘freedom of expression’