MANILA, Philippines – Lawyer Virgil Garcia might be running against a Tulfo for a congressional post in Quezon City, but it’s only a mere coincidence, he says.
On Friday, February 14, Garcia filed a disqualification case with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) against members of the Tulfo clan, alleging that they are violating the constitutional rule against political dynasties. He also alleged that ACT-CIS Representative Erwin Tulfo, the top preferred senatorial candidate, is ineligible to run because of issues in his citizenship.
With the Tulfo family’s vast popularity, it will be an uphill battle. But Garcia is not afraid of retaliation. He also denies vested interest in including reelectionist congressman Ralph Tulfo as one of the respondents, who is also his political rival for the position of Quezon City 2nd District representative. Ralph is the incumbent representative, and is seeking reelection.
As an advocate for good governance, Garcia is only interested in one thing: to stop political dynasties.
“It’s not even personality-driven, or because they are Tulfos. No. Whoever that might be — because they are the perfect example of a blatant violation of the Constitution. It’s abuse,” said Garcia in an exclusive interview with Rappler on Wednesday, February 19.
Military lawyer to advocate
Garcia is a retired brigadier general who spent over three decades in reserve military service. He first joined the Armed Forces of the Philippines in the 1980s as a probationary second lieutenant, but then decided at the time that he also wanted to become a lawyer.
He achieved his two goals: to be a lawyer and to be in the military. He served in the Judge Advocate General Service, which is the military’s branch for legal services.
In 2002, the Supreme Court (SC) ordered Garcia’s disbarment for grave misconduct in a family property dispute. Garcia had notarized a deed of donation allegedly signed by his father-in-law, which was later found to contain a forged signature.
Garcia pleaded his case and was reinstated some years later. His name and roll number, 33522, remain on the SC’s lawyers’ list.
The military lawyer retired from the armed forces in 2016. Today, at 70, he is an active member of the National ROTC Alumni Association, which, apart from its advocacy for Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC), also believes in good governance.
He and his group advocate against political dynasties, corruption, big business monopoly, and want drastic electoral reforms and poverty alleviation.
Two grounds
Garcia’s petition against the Tulfos has two main grounds: that the multiple Tulfo clan members seeking congressional posts form a constitutionally prohibited political dynasty, and how Erwin Tulfo’s reacquired Filipino citizenship renders him disqualified to run for senator.
Responding to the filing, Erwin Tulfo said that there is no enabling law prohibiting political dynasties in the country.
Garcia agrees – there is no enabling law. But this petitioner’s position is that the provisions of the Constitution are supposed to be self-executing.
“This is not personal to them, and I am not singling them out. I just want a result. The number one thing I want is a ruling on political dynasties,” he said.
Hopefully, if the SC rules on his petition he said, this might push Congress to finally come out with a law.
Garcia argues that the Constitution only requires Congress to come up with a definition of a political dynasty, but the “obvious” intent is to prohibit them.
“Brother, brother, brother, sister. Then you include the father, mother, son. All of them in Congress. In one place. Is that not yet a concentration of political power? Actually, that is a tremendous concentration of political power. It’s not good. It’s not healthy,” he said.
For the second ground, Garcia argues that Filipino-born Erwin Tulfo renouncing his American citizenship means he had to perfect his Filipino citizenship to run.
The Constitution reserves senatorial seats to natural-born Filipinos. The article on citizenship says that natural-born Filipinos are those who are citizens of the Philippines “from birth.”
“[Erwin Tulfo is] a Filipino once again, but not a natural-born Filipino anymore. Because when that status is lost, it is lost forever,” he said.
‘Neglected’ district
Garcia is currently on his third attempt running as Quezon City 2nd District representative. The 2nd District is home to some of Quezon City’s populous and urban poor communities, such as Commonwealth and Payatas.
Since 2019, he has positioned himself as an alternative candidate. He has grown weary of seeing traditional politicians buy votes while his district remains “neglected.”
“If you go to my place, to the 2nd District, the way it was in 2019 is still how it is today. It might be even worse because it’s dense and crowded,” he said.
After a failed first bid, Garcia started campaigning early in 2022. He grew to see how progress stalled in areas that, if only policymakers had attended to, would make lives of the communities in them easier.
“[For instance in this one area,] I said there should be a road between the communities, so that the residents don’t have to go all the way around just to come to this point that you would simply cross if there were only a road,” he said.
During his campaigns, he would face occasional critics who would complain about why politicians would only come to their communities when it’s election season.
“If your heart is in it and you want to apply [to be a senator], you should work for it,” he said.
Garcia is running as an independent candidate, but is aligned with Partido Reporma.
Legacy
Even if it wasn’t the Tulfos, Garcia said he still would have filed the petition for any family attempting to win as many seats as they are running for.
“This is an opportunity to give [the SC] a chance to revisit some of the rulings that have been laid down in the past,” he said.
When he filed his certificate of candidacy for the third time in 2024, reporters asked what he wanted to do if elected. He said then that he wanted to fight political dynasties.
“I’m fighting it now. I’m showing them that I am. I keep my word. And you know, I’m almost at the last chapter of my life. I just want to be able to leave behind a legacy.” – Rappler.com