Where is Mon Tulfo?

MANY listeners of the government radio station Radyo Pilipinas have noticed that Mon Tulfo has not been heard on his morning radio show Isumbong Mo Kay Tulfo for the past few days.

His sons Bon and Patrick have been pinch-hitting for their dad in his absence. Many listeners say that Bon sounds like his dad while Patrick has done radio work in the past for DZRJ AM and now has his own program on DZME 1530 khz.

In my own observation, Mon's absence is due primarily to the fact that he is busy attending to his own public service concerns in his office in Greenhills, San Juan. He has also been preoccupied with writing his column for the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

His brothers Erwin and Ben Tulfo are also active in government media. Erwin is no longer doing news for PTV 4 but he still has his 10 am radio show on Radyo Pilipinas after Isumbong Mo Kay Tulfo. Ben, for his part, still has his Bitag Live at 8 am on both PTV 4 and Radyo Pilipinas as well as his Bitag New Generation on Saturday nights.

However, Ben's other shows on PTV are no longer airing including Kilos Pronto which now airs only via Facebook Live. This is an offshoot of the controversial Department of Tourism ads between Ben's company Bitag Media Interactive and his sister Wanda Tulfo Teo worth close to P60 million that led to Wanda resigning as Tourism Secretary.

The other Tulfo brother, Raffy, still has his noontime newscast on TV5 and his radio show on 92.3 Radyo Singko on FM because he still has a contract with the Pangilinan-owned network. But you can bet on Raffy joining his brothers in PTV and Radyo Pilipinas once his TV5 contract expires.

It is no secret that the sharp tongues of the Tulfo brothers are only heightening the already tense political situation in the Philippines because of their staunch defense of the Duterte administration. They were hired by the government TV and radio stations out of their loyalty to the former Davao City mayor whom they supported in the last presidential elections in 2016.

Radyo Pilipinas's sister AM station on the 918 khz frequency still has its sports news and updates but news and political commentaries are also being aired in the morning, a proof of how the Presidential Communications Office under Secretary Martin Andanar has changed the status quo in the Philippine Broadcasting Service.

Let's hope Mon surfaces in his radio show soon. He must inform his listeners that he isn't hiding from the law and the critics who are after him.