Multiple quote cards attributed to Sen. Raffy Tulfo are circulating online, supposedly blaming former president Rodrigo Duterte as the root of the country’s “rotten system.” This is fake.
Published beginning Feb. 2, the fake quote cards carried a side-by-side photo of Tulfo and Duterte along with this caption:
“Duterte ang ugat ng bulok na sistema – Raffy Tulfo (Duterte is the root of a rotten system – Raffy Tulfo).”
Several quote cards carrying the same statement were posted the following days.
There is no record of Tulfo making such a statement. The senator has dismissed the claim on his official Facebook page.
In a Feb. 7 FB post, Tulfo flagged the viral quote card as “fake news,” warning the public to scrutinize online information. He also urged the public to fact-check before sharing any content via official websites and social media accounts.
A combination of reverse image search and keyword search shows that Tulfo’s image used in the earliest circulated fake quote card was taken from a 2022 plenary session of the 19th Congress when he proposed a budget for the National Children’s Hospital. The image of Duterte was taken in July 2016, when the former president joined the Muslim community in Davao City for the observance of the Mindanao Hariraya Eid’l Fit’r.
The fake quote card with different sets of photos resurfaced this month amidst reports of anomalies in the government that have dominated the headlines. Specifically, the country is currently gripped by a multi-billion peso “ghost” flood control corruption scandal that the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee— in which Tulfo is an active member—has investigated.
A verification through a Google search reveals that no reputable news organization has ever reported this alleged statement.
The fabricated quote was published by FB pages Solid North News Media (created Feb. 16, 2022), Politiko Tasyo (June 29, 2020), Online Trending News (October 2, 2014), South Manila News ( Aug. 7, 2021), Voice of Reality PH (Dec. 28, 2018), Pinas News TV (June 30, 2019), Bayaning Filipino Migrant Workers (created Jan. 25, 2024).
It was also posted by FB users, Engr. Jaydee (created April 13, 2022), Anthony Comedia (Oct. 14, 2021), Marcus Peligrino, Bisayang Dako (March 21, 2025), along with Thread and Instagram users, 4centcent and Samamahoy.
Collectively, the fake post has so far garnered 222,648 reactions; 72,019 comments; and 9,879 shares.
