Tulfo ‘dynasty’ challenger brings disqualification petition to SC

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The Comelec ruled that the Constitution requires a law defining political dynasties, but petitioner Virgilio Garcia argues the Supreme Court has the power to decide what a political dynasty is when it is already 'blatant'

MANILA, Philippines – The lawyer seeking to disqualify certain members of the Tulfo clan for being part of a “political dynasty” escalated his petition to the Supreme Court (SC) on Saturday, May 31.

Lawyer Virgilio Garcia filed his petition urging the SC to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) decision denying his motion for reconsideration (MR) via e-filing on Saturday. He submitted a hard copy of the petition to the High Court on Monday, June 2.

The Comelec en banc, in a decision on Wednesday, May 28, junked Garcia’s petition over technicalities, but also commented on merits. Garcia’s petition was originally dismissed swiftly because of his failure to attach the certificates of candidacy (COCs) of the candidates he challenged before the Comelec.

In his MR, Garcia invoked the best evidence rule to excuse his failure to attach COCs, which means that he argued that he need not attach them since the Comelec itself already has copies of the documents. The poll body did not accept this because it was a lapse in procedure, which went against a safeguard to ensure respondents are properly informed about cases.

The Comelec also assumed, for the sake of argument, that the case was not dismissed on technicalities. Garcia argued that the Constitution has a self-executing provision against political dynasties, but the poll body stood by the dismissal due to the lack of an enabling law.

“Even if there is no enabling law [for] the prohibition on political dynasties, the Supreme Court can, in some cases, when it is already excessive, blatant, and vulgar…say that it is enough: ‘You are already a political dynasty and therefore you are not qualified. You are prohibited to run under the Constitution,'” Garcia said in an interview with Rappler on Monday.

“That’s a long shot. But baka puwede (it might work),” he added.

Garcia raised three issues in his petition for the SC to decide on:

1. Whether the respondents — Senator-elect Erwin Tulfo, ACT-CIS Representative-elect Jocelyn Pua Tulfo, Quezon City 2nd District Representative-elect Ralph Wendel Tulfo, Turismo first nominee Wanda Tulfo Teo, and senatorial candidate Ben Tulfo — constitute a political dynasty as prohibited by the Constitution. Erwin, Wanda, and Ben are siblings; Jocelyn is the wife of another Tulfo sibling, incumbent senator Raffy; and Ralph Wendel is the son of Jocelyn and Raffy.
2. Whether the respondents are obligated to prove their natural-born status to qualify as candidates (in relation to Erwin Tulfo’s citizenship issues)
3. Whether the Comelec has constitutional jurisdiction to determine the qualifications or disqualifications of all aspirants before they become candidates

In the 2025 elections, Garcia lost against Ralph Wendel Tulfo for representative of Quezon City’s 2nd District.

The Comelec’s dismissal of the case would become final and executory if Garcia fails to secure a TRO from the SC.

‘Tempted’ to rule

In a press conference on Thursday, May 29, Comelec Chairman George Garcia said the commission was “tempted” to make a decision about political dynasties in relation to the Tulfo cases. Lawyer Garcia’s petition was one of at least two that had similar arguments about the Tulfo clan members allegedly constituting a dynasty, as well as the possible disqualification of Erwin Tulfo because he supposedly only reacquired Filipino citizenship.

Because the Constitution prescribes an enabling law on political dynasties, the Comelec’s hands are tied, Chairman Garcia said.

“Hindi kami puwede mag-define ng political dynasty. Hindi kami puwede magsabi up to what extent ang political dynasty, up to what level of relationship ang political dynasty,” said the chairman, while noting in the en banc decision that he had no part in it due to a “previous professional relationship” with the Tulfo-affiliated ACT-CIS party-list group.

(We cannot define political dynasties. We cannot determine political dynasties’ extent or level of relationship.)

Garcia pointed to how the Sangguniang Kabataan Reform Act and the Bangsamoro Electoral Code both have provisions defining political dynasties. These enabling laws allow the Comelec to prohibit dynasties in SK and Bangsamoro polls, which national and local elections do not have a counterpart for.

Petitioner Garcia said he wanted to continue his battle against the Tulfos because of his advocacy for “drastic” electoral reforms. – Rappler.com