Is There Such a Thing as the Tulfo Brand?

By Bong Habana Ruado

Philippine politics came close to an unusual situation in 2025. Had Ben Tulfo moved up just one place in the senatorial race, three Tulfo brothers would have been sitting in the Senate at the same time.

Raffy was already midway through his first term after winning 23.4 million votes and finishing third in 2022. Erwin followed three years later, placing fourth with 17.1 million votes on his first attempt. Ben finished 13th with nearly 12 million.

Those are enormous numbers for one family whose national prominence was built largely outside traditional politics. And with Raffy continuing to figure prominently in early surveys for 2028, they raise a question: is there such a thing as the Tulfo brand?

Raffy’s own electoral record is a good place to start. Winning 23.4 million votes on his first attempt was already proof that his television popularity could survive the transition to an actual ballot.

Erwin showed that the appeal was not necessarily Raffy’s alone. More than 17 million Filipinos voted for another Tulfo in 2025.

Ben makes the story less straightforward. He entered the campaign with strong survey numbers and probably the most recognizable surname among the candidates. He still lost.

Finishing 13th with nearly 12 million votes is hardly a poor showing, but it is a useful reminder of what a famous political name can and cannot do. The Tulfo surname gave Ben a formidable starting point. It did not give him a Senate seat.

Raffy’s current numbers deserve the same caution.

Momentum Research’s July survey had him third for president at 12.2 percent. He led its vice-presidential choices at 18.3 percent and was third among prospective Senate candidates at 38.2 percent. OCTA’s July Senate survey put him second at 47.4 percent. Even Ben was back at 31 percent, within or near the preliminary winning circle.

It is tempting to read those numbers simply as proof of Raffy’s political versatility. Filipinos appear willing to consider him for almost any major national office.

There is another possible reading. Some voters may be responding more to Raffy Tulfo the personality than to Raffy Tulfo the candidate for a particular job. Name recognition and familiarity can travel easily from one survey question to another. Political loyalty is harder to measure.

This brings us to what may be the more important question about Raffy’s numbers. Where is Tulfo country?

Pulse Asia’s June-July presidential preference survey provides an interesting clue. Raffy registered 20 percent in Balance Luzon, 16 percent in NCR and 10 percent in the Visayas. In Mindanao, he had only 2 percent.

Compare that with Sara Duterte, who received 87 percent in Mindanao in the same survey. Her support there is not merely high. It gives her a political fortress from which to build a national campaign.

Raffy’s strongest areas tell a different story. NCR and Balance Luzon are enormous electoral markets, but neither can realistically be called Tulfo territory. Balance Luzon alone lumps together provinces with very different local leaders, political histories and voting behavior.

This may be where Raffy’s media origins matter.

Long before any Tulfo became a senator, the brothers had already built a nationwide audience through television and radio. Their programs offered something immediately understandable to viewers: bring us your problem and we will try to do something about it. That created familiarity across provincial and regional boundaries without requiring the family to control a particular territory.

It worked remarkably well in a Senate election. Every vote Raffy received, whether from Pasig, Pangasinan or Cebu, counted toward the same national total.

A presidential campaign can be less forgiving. When an election becomes polarized, a regional stronghold supplies more than votes. It provides local organization and allies, and perhaps most importantly, a dependable reservoir of support when the national political weather changes.

Leni Robredo has a political home in Bicol and years of organization around her candidacies. Risa Hontiveros has a recognizable political constituency of a different kind, although her current presidential numbers remain modest. She registered only 2.4 percent in Momentum’s July presidential survey despite openly considering a run for the presidency.

Raffy presents almost the opposite problem. We already know he can attract millions of votes. What we do not know is how firmly those voters are attached to him.

That distinction becomes important because a political following built heavily through media can also be affected by media, issues and events. The voters attracted to Raffy’s problem-solving persona today may remain with him through 2028. Or another candidate, controversy or political issue may give some of them a reason to move.

Ben’s experience is worth remembering here. Strong surveys and a famous surname got him close. They did not get him across the line.

So the evidence does point to something we can reasonably call a Tulfo brand. It has already produced two senators, almost produced a third and continues to place Raffy near the top of surveys for several national offices.

But 2028, should Raffy eventually seek higher office, would test something that neither his 2022 Senate victory nor today’s surveys can tell us.

He has already shown that he can win 23 million votes without owning a province or commanding a traditional political bailiwick. That worked spectacularly for the Senate.

Whether it works the same way for the presidency is another matter.

For Raffy Tulfo, we still don’t know where home is.