(Eagle News) — Media personalities, Ben and Erwin Tulfo, attended the senate hearing on Tuesday, August 14, to allegedly clear their names on the P60 million advertising placement of the Department of Tourism with their Bitag Media Unlimited.
Ben Tulfo’s Bitag Media Unlimited has been embroiled in the controversial ad placement deal as this was made at the time that his sister, Wanda Teo, was serving as the DOT secretary.
Tulfo, like his sister Teo, claimed there was nothing anomalous with the deal, and tried to downplay the observations of the Commission on Audit (COA) on how his sister readily approved payments to the program, Kilos Pronto, under Bitag Media which he owned and operated.
He complained that the Tulfo name was being besmirched because of alleged media sensationalism over the issue.
“Masama po ang loob ko kasi nadadamay ang pangalan ng Tulfo,” he said during the hearing.
He said that he spoke out to erase the bad perception about them created in the media.
“Nagkaroon ng iba’t ibang persepsyon na nakaw,” he said.
Tulfo claimed that it all started with a “simple” observation of the Commission on Audit (COA), and that his Bitag Media group had faithfully delivered on the contract.
“Simpleng obserbasyon ng COA. Ang dahilan po niyan ay simpleng obserbasyon ng COA. (A simple observation of COA. The cause of this was a simple observation of COA),” he said.
“May kopya po kami tape on air.. Buo po yan walang putol. (We have a copy of the tape on air. That is complete, with no cuts,” he claimed.
The DOT’s placements of advertisement were in “Kilos Pronto,” the public service program produced by Bitag Media, hosted by Ben Tulfo and his brother, Erwin, which was aired on government-run PTV4.
For his part, Erwin Tulfo, tried to wash his hands off the controversy, and said that he was a mere “talent” of Bitag Media and was not part of any “decision making process” of the organization.
“I am a talent of Bitag, pero hindi po ako regular employee,” the younger Tulfo said.
“I’m just a talent. I am not part of the decision making process. I am willing to answer questions, any question,” he said.
The contract was being questioned by COA saying there was no memorandum of agreement (MOA) between PTV-4 or the People’s Television Network Inc. (PTNI) and Tulfo’s Bitag Media Unlimited Inc., to air DOT commercial ads.
COA also found “many inconsistencies” on the media plan, and also pointed out that there were several deficiency in documentation. It also pointed to a possible “conflict of interest” in the deal.
Teo approved the payment of the money to the media-firm her brother owned and operated without the MOA, according to COA.