Amidst talks about yours truly being considered for a Cabinet post, supposedly for the proposed Office of the Press Secretary, I wish to clarify that there is no such offer yet coming from President Duterte himself.
I am humbled and flattered by the kind words of my compadre Secretary Martin Andanar, of the Presidential Communication Operations Office for vouching for my qualifications and media experience.
That being said, I am content and happy where I am now, knowing that quite a number of our fellow Filipinos have dramatically shown their support for the advocacy that I supported and endorsed during the recent election campaign period.
Going around the country, especially in far-flung provinces, I came face-to-face with the ordinary Filipinos whom I believe truly personify the words “public servants.” They are not the usual jusi barong-clad bureaucrats in the high offices of the government, but rather the farmers, fishermen, traders at the rural marketplaces, jeepney and tricycle drivers and the shy, hardworking staff at the provincial capitols, city and municipal and barangay halls in the countryside.
They made me realize that it takes the whole village to make things work, each one being a public servant in his own special way.
And, whereas in the past years, we have received and provided assistance any way we can to our aggrieved kababayans at my action center (formerly at a rundown apartment unit on Mother Ignacia St., Quezon City and now at a small office at Timog Ave.), in turn we were welcomed heartily by these folks at their respective hometowns during our sorties.
Nakakataba po ng puso!
They have been my inspiration in over 30 years rendering public service in conjunction with my profession as a journalist, first in print and then broadcast, and now digital media.
Just like my older brothers Mon, Ben and Raffy, I have found that providing various forms of assistance to people at the edge of disadvantage to be truly rewarding not in material terms but personally fulfilling.
I have never received any grant from any private institution nor from any government agency in maintaining the operations of my small office, the Erwin Tulfo Public Assistance & Media Center.
I continue to live up to my panata or devotion especially to the Black Nazarene for several years now to serve Him through the less fortunate Filipinos with a little help from my philanthropist friends and out of my own income.
The same friends who share the commitment and passion for public service now represent the interests and welfare of a marginalized sector through the Anti-Crime & Terrorism Thru Community Involvement & Support Party-list in the coming 18th Congress. I am, of course, referring to Congressmen-elect Eric Yap, Jocelyn Tulfo and Niña Taduran.
In my own Tulfo brand of public service, I will continue to support the ACT-CIS' solid legislative agenda, as well as the thrusts of the Duterte administration against crime and corruption.