Erwin Tulfo warns: Up to voters if they want a China-controlled congress
Senatorial candidate and ACT-CIS party-list Rep. Erwin Tulfo. File photo
DAGUPAN CITY, Pangasinan — It will be up to Filipinos if they prefer a China-controlled Senate and House of Representatives as they pick candidates for the 2025 midterm polls, senatorial candidate and ACT-CIS party-list Rep. Erwin Tulfo said on Friday.
During the Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas press briefing here Tulfo said that it is obvious that China’s attempts to interfere with the elections stems from the superpower’s yearning to control the Philippine Congress.
If the people elect pro-China candidates, Tulfo said the people should already know what would happen next.
“Obviously what’s happening is that China wants a Chinese-controlled Senate Chinese-controlled House of Representatices, instead of putting the decision on the hands of the Filipino people, it’s up to you if you want that,” said Tulfo in Filipino.
“Then, you know what’s gonna to happen. We will be subservient to them. We will do whatever they will tell to the senators or congressmen that they would help elect,” he added.
Chinese intrusion
The lawmaker said these after being asked about a Senate panel’s discovery of Chinese intrusion even into the Philippines’ political affairs.
During the hearing of the Senate’s special committee on maritime and admiralty zones on Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino who chairs the panel asked if there were any indicators showing foreign interference in the 2025 elections.
“Particularly targeting candidates who have strong pro-sovereignty or anti-China positions. Is there an indication that the people targeted are those who are anti-China and those supported are pro-China? Is there a pattern like that?” Tolentino asked.
Malaya then replied that there are indications that “information operations are being conducted or that Chinese state-sponsored groups in the Philippines are actually interfering in the forthcoming elections.”
READ: China interfering with PH’s May 2025 polls, says NSC’s Malaya
However, Tulfo said that as early as 2024, they have observed that different issues involving Philippine-China conflict have been used as a “smokescreen.”
“Last year even before the election we noticed the West Philippine Ses is becoming a smokescreen. At the height of the tension there, collision, water cannon…Little did we know they have spies on the other side, capturing videos, pictures of our installation sites,” said Tulfo.
This is not the first time that government officials expressed concerns with China’s seeming attempts to muddle up discussions in local political affairs. Last December 2024, La Union 1st District Rep. Paolo Ortega V asked why China’s intrusive activities in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) seem to happen during political flare-ups in the country.
Bajo de Masinloc
During a press briefing, Ortega was then asked about an incident at Bajo de Masinloc, where five Chinese ships harassed Philippine vessels conducting a routine maritime patrol in the WPS.
According to Ortega, while he does not want to assume things, China’s harassment of Philippine vessels in the WPS happened again after a long time without incidents — and coincided during tense events within the Philippine political landscape.
Ortega did not mention an exact situation, but he mentioned a squabble between national political figures. During that time, tensions in the national political scene were high after Vice President Sara Duterte said that she had contacted someone who would kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., first lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez if she would be assassinated.
Earlier, Alyansa campaign manager and Navotas City Rep. Toby Tiangco insisted that the future of the Philippines must be determined by Filipinos only.
Tiangco said the issue is no longer political, but an urgent national security concern that authorities must address.
“This is not just a political issue. It is a matter of national security. We urge the proper authorities to investigate these reports with urgency, hold accountable those responsible, and protect the sanctity of our elections,” he added.
During the same hearing, it was revealed that China, through its embassy in Manila, allegedly paid for a “troll farm” under a contract with a private company to discredit the Philippine government and anti-China Filipino personalities.
Tolentino said a “service agreement” between the Chinese Embassy and InfinitUs Marketing Solutions Inc. in August 2023 included the provision of “keyboard warriors that will play a vital role in the overall effectiveness of the issue management project.”
READ: Senate inquiry brings up China-funded ‘troll farm’
He said InfinitUs was allegedly contracted to spread pro-Beijing narratives and fake news campaigns targeting lawmakers who support the Philippines’ claims over the West Philippine Sea.
