QUEZON City Rep. Ralph Wendel Tulfo has apologized after his convoy was caught by the Department of Transportation’s Special Action and Intelligence Committee for Transportation (SAICT) illegally using the EDSA busway last January 23.
“Lubos po akong humihingi ng paumainhin sa publiko, lalo na sa mga naapektuhan at naabala ng insidente kamakailan kaugnay sa pagdaan ng aking sasakyan sa EDSA bus lane (I wish to apologize to the public, especially those affected by the incident),” the 28-year-old son of Sen. Raffy Tulfo posted in social media on Tuesday night.
He said he had settled the penalties and vowed to have his drivers undergo a seminar on traffic laws and regulations to avoid a repeat of the incident.
He said he acknowledged his mistake and never attempted to throw his weight around as a lawmaker to wriggle out of the situation.
“Nangangako po akong gagawin ko ang lahat ng hakbang upang maiwasan ang ganitong uri ng pagkakamali sa hinaharap (I promise to take all the necessary steps to avoid this kind of mistake in the future),” the young Tulfo said.
Sen. Tulfo earlier said he saw nothing wrong with the incident since his son did not lie about his involvement or try to escape accountability. He said he also asked his son to publicly apologize after the congressman apologized to him.
“Inadmit naman niya hindi naman siya nagsinungaling at nag-apologize siya so wala akong nakikitang problema doon. As long as hindi siya tumakas, hindi siya gumamit ng plakang otso, which karapatan niyang gumamit, pero hindi siya gumamit, it just shows na hindi siya abusado (He admitted, he didn’t lie and he apologized so I see no problem with that. As long as he didn’t escape, didn’t use his No. 8 plate – which he has a right to use but he didn’t – it just shows that he did not abuse his power),” he told reporters last Tuesday.
Last November, the senator announced that a fellow senator’s relative was in the sports utility vehicle (SUV) using plate No. 7 that was caught using the EDSA busway.
He even held a press conference where he urged the passenger to surrender, saying all of the 23 senators were under the public’s suspicion since no one had come out to admit that they were related to the passenger.
Sen. Sherin Gatchalian later refused to confirm or deny if he is related to the passenger when he was asked by reporters if he had discussed the incident with his brother, his father, or the driver of the vehicle.