⁠’People have spoken, they only want 2 Tulfos in Senate’ — Erwin

Party-list Rep. and one of Senate race leaders Erwin Tulfo. Inquirer. File photo.

MANILA, Philippines — As his brother Ben lagged behind in the senatorial polls, ACT-CIS Rep. Erwin Tulfo said they respect the decision of voters who may have preferred only two Tulfos in the upper chamber.

Their brother, Raffy, was elected in 2022 and now leads the Senate committees on migrant workers, and energy.

The lawmaker said the results of the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) partial and unofficial count did not surprise them, even when past survey results showed that his brother was among the leading candidates in the Senate “Magic 12.”

“The people have spoken, maybe the people said: We just want two Tulfos–just like other senator siblings too, the Ejercitos, the Estradas, the Cayetanos, maybe they only want two. Two is enough,” Rep. Tulfo said in an interview with INQToday.

“The people have spoken and we respect that,” he added.

`Not word of God’

READ: Ben Tulfo shuns political dynasty tag, kicks off senatorial campaign

According to the lawmaker, survey results should not be treated as “the word of God” or “Bible” and only as a guide to politicians as to where they stand among the public.

He also pointed out that survey groups might have missed reports from political analysts, saying that 60 percent of voters are Generation Z and millennials.

As of writing, Erwin is at the fourth spot with 16,815,945 votes based on the Comelec’s transparency server. Topping the list are Sen. Bong Go with 26,490,710 votes, followed by Former Sen. Paolo Benigno Aquino IV with 20,637,824 votes, and Sen. Ronald dela Rosa with 20,273,810 votes.

His brother Ben is currently at the 13th spot with 11,886,979 votes.

Based on the final pre-election survey conducted by Social Weather Stations and commissioned by the Stratbase Group, Rep. Tulfo secured the first spot, while his brother Ben landed in the fifth spot./ MR