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VERA FILES FACT CHECK: MISLEADING video claims NLRC wants Tulfo out of Senate

Misleading

A video posted on YouTube and Facebook (FB) says the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) wants Sen. Raffy Tulfo removed from the Senate. This is misleading. 

YouTube channel PINAS UNFOLD and FB page PH Latest posted the video on Feb. 5, six days after a Senate committee hearing on the alleged mistreatment of cashiers at Landmark Makati mall. It bore the caption: 

HALA! NLRC GUSTO IPATANGGAL SA SENADO SI SEN. TULFO | TAONG BAYAN MAG PEOPLE POWER DAW (Oh no! NLRC wants to Tulfo removed from the Senate | Masses to allegedly stage people power)?” 

The headline distorted what Tulfo said about an attempt by the NLRC years ago to have him removed from TV5, where he hosted the radio shows Wanted sa Radyo (Wanted on Radio) and Raffy Tulfo in Action.

Below is the transcript of Tulfo’s actual statement: 

I remember many years ago, yung NLRC, sinumbong ako sa TV5, sa kataas-taasang management ng TV5, pinatatanggal ako kasi binabatikos ko yung NLRC. Ngayon, subukan niyo, ipatanggal niyo ako sa Senado dahil binabatikos kayo (02:16:33)

Source: Senate of the Philippines YouTube channel, Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resources Development (January 30, 2023), timecode 2:16:16 to 2:16:33 (emphasis ours) 

Contrary to what the video’s introduction falsely insinuated, Tulfo did not say that the NLRC is currently making moves to oust him as senator. 

But the lawmaker dared the NLRC to have him removed from the Senate because of his tirades against the agency. He did not issue the challenge out of the belief that he had the people’s support, as the narrator wrongly interpreted. 

The misleading video got a total of 30,000 YouTube views and 1.96 million FB interactions. Several netizens in the comments section defended Tulfo, citing his service to the Filipino people as a senator and through his radio programs.

YouTube channel PINAS UNFOLD was created on Feb. 23, 2021, and FB page PH Latest on Sept. 21, 2020.

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(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)