MANILA — Quezon City Second District Representative Ralph Wendel Tulfo—son of Senator Raffy Tulfo and ACT-CIS Partylist Representative Jocelyn Tulfo, and nephew of Senator Erwin Tulfo—has faced strong public backlash over a P6.7 million bill incurred by his group during a Christmas celebration at a high-end nightclub in the United States in December 2023.

Ralph, who currently serves as Assistant Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, was seen in a video using his credit card to pay the bill, which totaled USD116,556.64 (approximately P6,768,120.17) at Omnia Nightclub, a luxurious multi-level venue located in Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada.

The video of the extravagant celebration recently went viral amid growing public outrage over alleged corruption involving billions of pesos in flood control projects. These projects, funded by taxpayers and managed by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in partnership with private contractors, have been linked to anomalies and misuse of funds.

Public anger intensified due to the widespread devastation and loss of life caused by typhoons and heavy rains across the country—believed to be the result of incomplete, substandard, or nonexistent “ghost flood projects,” where funds were allegedly misappropriated or stolen.

Tulfo reportedly admitted to the video and stated that he had uploaded it himself to his Instagram account in 2023.

He was further criticized not only as a “nepo baby”—a term used to describe individuals who benefit from wealth and power due to their family’s high-ranking government positions—but also because he was said to have secured high-cost flood control projects in his own district.

The Agenda Weekend program of Bilyonaryo News Channel reported that Tulfo sent an official statement to the program on September 27 regarding the issue.

His statement read:

“Una sa lahat, ako po ay humihingi ng pang-unawa para sa video na kumakalat online. Ang nasabing video ay kuha sa isang pribadong pagdiriwang noong Pasko 2023.

Maliban sa kapaskuhan at sa pagsalubong sa taong 2024, may natanggap na magandang balita ang aking mga kaibigan kaya naman kami po ay nagdiwang.

Bagama’t ginamit ang aking credit card, nag-ambagan naman po kaming lahat para sa kabuuang halaga ng ginastos.

Sa panahong mahigpit ang pagbabantay ng publiko sa paggamit ng kanilang buwis, nais ko lamang pong linawin na ito ay isang personal trip, at wala kaming ginamit na pondo ng gobyerno at pera ng taumbayan.

Malalim ko pong pinag-isipan at pinagnilayan ito at nauunawaan ko kung bakit masakit para sa mga Pilipino ang mga ganitong uri ng pagdiriwang.

Ang insidenteng ito’y magsisilbing paalala sa akin na maging maingat at mapanuri, lalo na ngayong sisimulan ko ang bagong yugto ng aking buhay sa pag-aasawa at pagbuo ng sarili kong pamilya.”

Tulfo was also previously involved in a controversy over “entitlement” when his vehicle was caught using the EDSA Busway, which is reserved exclusively for authorized buses, emergency vehicles, and top government officials such as the President, Vice President, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

He reportedly violated the Busway regulation twice—in September 2024 and January 2025.

In January 2025, Senator Raffy Tulfo confirmed that his son Ralph was caught using the EDSA Busway, saying he saw no major issue since Ralph admitted the mistake, apologized, and didn’t try to cover it up—though he still reprimanded him for the violation.

📷 Congressman Ralph Tulfo FB