I first met Raffy Tulfo when I was an assistant secretary at the Department of the Interior and Local Government in 1999. He then had a show on the government-owned Channel 4 called "Philippines' Most Wanted," featuring dramatizations of monstrous crimes where he posted the pictures of the perpetrators on air.

As concurrent head of the DILG's Office of Public Affairs, we had entered into a partnership with his show to catch those criminals, and to publicize the DILG's current concerns.

To be candid, at the time, Raffy was living under the shadow of his vastly more famous elder brother Mon, who was in his heyday. In contrast to the more aggressive Mon, Raffy was gentler, kinder, with more heart (if you may), more brains, and with a visibly more genuine desire to help people. But even then, he had just the right kind of "angas" (moxie) to get things done. We became fast friends, and our friendship only became deeper and closer as the years rolled by.

At one of our dinners during Aquino's time, we joked about him running for the Senate so he could help more people. "Huwag, pare," he told me, "hindi ko kaya yun. Kung si Wowowee pa sana (referring to Willie Revillame, who was at the height of his popularity at the time), puede. Small time lang tayo."

Fast forward more than a decade. Raffy has moved to the audaciously competitive TV5, which is angling to unseat either GMA7 or ABS-CBN in the ratings game. With greater reach, Raffy's "Wanted sa Radyo" rocketed to the top of the charts. Its evolution into "Isumbong Mo Kay Tulfo" became number one in its time slot, and in no time his social media accounts had accumulated tens of millions of followers. So popular was he that his show gave rise to a new entry in the local lexicon: Ipapatu-Tulfo kita!"

This is why it should come as no surprise that he would win a Senate seat handily, coming in at number three — on his first try — in a field chock-full of veteran politicians with money and/or pedigree and supported by powerful vested interests. And he did it without contributions from business moguls, the endorsement of bloc-voting organizations, and sans any party machinery. Not only that: He was able to propel his partylist group, the ACT-CIS, to its own power bloc with a maximum of three seats in the House, and his son Ralph as district representative of Quezon City.

It couldn't have happened to a nicer man. Raffy may adopt a tough game face when dealing with people who are the subject of complaints for abusive conduct, but away from the cameras, he is funny, irreverent, and well-grounded. In other words, a regular guy, concerned about the common man, and a wonderful head of his family.

Raffy's distinct advantage is that, having run as an independent, he is not held to any party line or stand. And he has, time and again, shown his independence by the causes he espouses, including what to me is very important — that of judicial fiscal autonomy — for which he has already filed a bill in the Senate, with a counterpart bill by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the House.

To me, Raffy's main strength lies in the fact that he brings his street smarts as a long-time public broadcaster to the often staid halls of a Senate fossilized by rigid rules of parliamentary tradition. This may not sit well with some of the dinosaurs in the Upper House, but the people see it as an attempt in good faith to fast-track needed legislation.

If the trend continues with Raffy's popularity, he may yet become the second major news personality (after the legendary Kabayan Noli de Castro) to become, perhaps, Vice President, and eventually even higher.

So, to Pareng Raffy, don't mind the bashers. Damn the torpedoes, and full speed ahead. As Bobby McFerrin once sang, "don't worry, be Raffy!"