Tulfo has decidedly followed the footsteps of his older brother, Ramon: arrogant, brash, self-righteous. Their father was a PC officer in Tacloban and, like most law enforcement agents connected to that agency, liked to flaunt their power in their turf. Tacloban was a small city then where everybody did not want to hurt anybody, and any small excesses were waived aside for the sake of “peace and harmony.”
How the Tulfos ended up with the media, despite their military orientation, is a story that might be worth looking into. Raffy's erroneous reportage appears to be a manifestation of this fundamental lack of any journalistic skills. His brother's undue interference in the hostage crisis shows a confusion of roles: does the guy want to be an 007, a hostage negotiator that one often sees in the movies? Or does he want to be another Ruther Batuigas, his idol?
Does Raffy know the people he is dealing with in his latest caper in mis-reporting? Apparently he does not. PAX stands for Philippine Alliance of Ex-seminarians. Directly translated for Mr. Tulfo, Pax means “peace”. The groups involved here are former seminarians from all over the country who have chosen the life of laymen but still grounded in the strong beliefs and values honed in the hallowed halls of their respective seminaries, under the strict rules of discipline, spirituality and academic excellence.
Thus to be an ex-seminarian in the secular world was to stay head and shoulders above the crowd, even without meaning to. Pax Grill was conceived to reunite former seminarians in Manila and provide them a venue for their unending debates and discussions amidst bottles of San Miguel and some juicy pulutan. Occasionally, the group stopped arguing, retreated to one corner where a live band played favorites, and took the microphone, showing off their well-modulated voices learned from choirs of long ago.
To accuse this group of resorting to the cheap entertainment of Mr. Tulfo is just as absurd as it is stupid. GROs and go-go dancers in their skimpy bikinis is not their idea of expressing their sexuality. If this is Mr. Tulfo's way of being a journalist, it is a slap on his face. A journalist should check his facts first before blurting out. Apparently, he does none of that. Apparently he gets his way in Channel TV 5.
I have my own strong suspicion about this incident. Journalists in the likes of Mr. Tulfo must have had too much of the heady brew – not your favorite San Mig, I suppose. On the night of February 9, he was probably making his rounds of the long Commonwealth Ave. And then in his loaded mind, he saw agogo dancers and GROs in Pax Grill, not bothering to check if indeed it was the Pax Grill. For lack of any other news on that morning show on February 10, he blurted out from his muddled brain that PAX Grill is another sex bar.
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| Testosterone booster |
Those familiar with the members of PAX would not believe a word of Tulfo's news. They knew Tulfo had committed a mortal sin, one that would put him in the deepest part of hell for all eternity. The group asked that he retract his statements and ask forgiveness. But he would not. The unrepentant Tulfo persists in his hardheadedness, stupidity and indifference to what is right and what is wrong. He is like a loose cannon ball, a member of the ac-dc tribe of media practitioners who thrive on their innocent victims, a mens insana in corpore sano. Or a tabula rasa, if you will. No, I won't translate these for you. Look for a Latin dictionary, Mr. Tulfo.
Today, PAX will file at the Quezon City Hall of Justice a P60million libel suit against TV5 and Mr. Raffy Tulfo. Separate suits will likewise be simultaneously filed in different parts of the country - Marikina, Makati, Cebu,Davao, Bulacan, C de Oro, Leyte, among others. Tulfo must understand that he is up against people with untainted ideals and sheer disregard for misguided symbols of authority. Indeed, he is a disgrace to his profession and, in all likelihood, a lot of journalists will spat on his brazen face.
The amount may not be commensurate to the damage he has done, but it will probably teach him some lessons in hitting former seminarians below the belt.
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