THE confirmation of former columnist Erwin Tulfo as secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) was deferred yesterday by a committee of the Commission on Appointments (CA) after questions on his citizenship and conviction due to libel cases were raised.
Rep. Oscar Malapitan, a member of the CA committee on labor, employment, social welfare, and migrant workers, grilled Tulfo on his citizenship after learning that the latter served in the US Marines from 1988 to 1992 as indicated in his Profile Investigation Report (PIR).
Only Americans are allowed to serve in US military units.
Tulfo requested an executive session to respond to Malapitan’s question.
Before Tulfo’s request was granted, Rep. Rodante Marcoleta asked the DSWD chief about the Pasay City Regional Trail Court’s 2000 decision that convicted him of four counts of libel. The local court’s ruling was affirmed by the Supreme Court in 2008.
Marcoleta said libel is an offense involving moral turpitude, which is a ground for the disqualification of nominees.
“My other question, Mr. Secretary, also based on the report, this is the PIR, Profile Investigation Report, it is indicated here that you were convicted four times in the Pasay City Regional Trial Court,” Marcoleta said.
Tulfo said the case was in connection with his former work as a columnist for a tabloid.
“It is not four convictions. Actually, it is four counts of libel that I was convicted, (filed) by the same individual. I was a columnist and I write about the person, a government official actually, and I have my sources and I was compelled by the court to divulge my sources, but I did not. So, it ended up in the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court,” Tulfo said.
The case Tulfo was referring to was a series of columns that he wrote in 1999 regarding the alleged corrupt practices of one Carlo “Ding” So of the Customs Intelligence Unit. The Pasay court found Tulfo and four tabloid editors guilty and sentenced them to a prison term of two years and four months to four years and two months.
The Pasay RTC’s ruling was upheld by the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court.
The high court, however, modified the RTC’s decision to just a fine of P6,000 for each count of libel for each of the accused, while the award of actual and exemplary damages to the complainant were deleted.
Marcoleta said Tulfo’s admission of his conviction due to his former work as a journalist “does not change the situation” since a person “can be convicted either way in any other vocation.”
He said the panel needs to be enlightened whether Tulfo is qualified for the job since “libel is an offense that involves moral turpitude,” which Marcoleta said was one of the reasons why several nominees “were disqualified from holding positions because they have been convicted in crimes involving moral turpitude.”
“But this is a problem we need to thresh out, Mr. Chair. How do we dispose this dilemma before us because it is in the report (PIR)? I could not have asked you this question, Mr. Secretary, if it did not appear in the report submitted to us by the CA,” Marcoleta said.
CA majority leader Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte said the issue raised by Marcoleta was best tackled in the executive session requested by Tulfo.
“Since we are a collegial body, we have to tackle this as a group. So, may I suggest and reiterate Mr. Chair, that we proceed to an executive session. I so move, Mr. Chair,” Villafuerte said.
Sen. Francis Escudero, also a member of the CA panel, said it would be unfair if the panel takes the libel conviction against Tulfo since there are pending measures in both the House of Representatives and the Senate to decriminalize libel.
“And later on, if that bill is approved by Congress and I think that will be prejudicial, at least, and unfair if that will be taken against him (Tulfo). Just for consideration when we go on a caucus later,” Escudero said.
After more than half an hour of discussions in an executive session, Villafuerte moved to defer the confirmation of Tulfo pending the gathering of certain documents and consultation with experts regarding the former journalist’s qualification to serve as DSWD secretary.
Earlier in the hearing, Rep. Johnny Pimentel also questioned Tulfo on his having 10 children with four women, saying this might cause some problems in the dispense of his duties since it is expected that he will meet more women while serving as DSWD secretary.
Tulfo said he has been separated from the mothers of his children and assured the panel members that this will not happen again as he has already learned his lesson.
In a chance interview after the hearing, Tulfo said he recently renounced his US citizenship before President Marcos appointed him as DSWD secretary.
He said he was a US citizen “back in 1986 or 1988” “until I renounced it.”
On his libel conviction, Tulfo said members of the CA panel were divided if he is qualified for the job since some members want to solicit the opinion of the Department of Justice, while some said it was not necessary anymore since he was an appointed official, not an elected one.
“Pinag-uusapan nila kanina na moral turpitude di ba? Pero ang sinasabi ng ilang congressman they have to tackle it, they have to ask for opinion of the DOJ or the secretary of justice. Pero ang sinasabi ng ibang miyembro para sa elective lang ito, eh ‘appointive na naman siya, hindi siya elected. So, it should not apply to him.’
(They were talking of moral turpitude, isn’t it? Other congressmen said they have to tackle it, they have to ask for an opinion of the DOJ or the secretary of justice. But other members are saying that this is only for elective [officials] and I am not an elected official.
‘So, it should not apply to him’),” Tulfo said.
Tulfo said he cannot share further what was tackled during the executive session.
On his private life, he said: “We make mistakes when we are young.”
He said what is important now is that he is supporting all his children and is in constant communication with their respective mothers.
He said he had expected questions on his private life, his US citizenship, and conviction of libel cases to be raised during his confirmation hearing.
DPWH
Meanwhile, the CA public works committee approved the appointment of Manuel Bonoan as secretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
Before Bonoan was confirmed, Sen. Cynthia Villar urged him to look into the right-of-way problems hounding government infrastructure projects which have delayed their completion.
“Maybe you should look into it so that we can implement the CALAX (Cavite-Laguna Expressway) because its completion has been delayed… I hope the DPWH would realize that if you don’t interfere in the right-of-way problem… then our infrastructure problems would be delayed,” Villar said.
Bonoan assured Villar he would look into her concern.
During his sponsorship speech, Marcoleta said Bonoan is the only “homegrown” among the present appointed Cabinet members as he had been with the DPWH since 1966 until his retirement as senior undersecretary in 2010.
“I can safely say, without fear of contradiction, Mr. Chair, that Sec. Manny (Bonoan) is the only homegrown among the present crop of Cabinet members,” Marcoleta said.
After other members manifested their support for the confirmation of Bonoan, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, who is the CA chairman, moved for the confirmation of the secretary, to which no one objected.
FAKE NEWS
President Marcos Jr. yesterday branded as “fake news” reports that he plans to replace Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno with Albay Rep. Joey Salceda.
The President, in a chance interview, said he has a “great team,” and it would not be good to change the members of his economic team at this time.
“Fake news. I don’t know where it comes from. Why would I do that? We have assembled a great team… We’re trying to go down a certain direction. It’s wrong, it’s a very, very poor time to, as they say, change horses in midstream,” he said.
Both Diokno and Salceda have denied the report.
Diokno said he was already too old to be bothered by such reports, while Salceda said he is not eyeing Diokno’s job. — With Jocelyn Montemayor
