ACT-CIS Rep. Erwin Tulfo publicly admitted on Monday that he was once an undocumented immigrant in the United States — a TNT or “tago nang tago” — for over a decade. Tulfo’s admission came amid allegations that he resorted to faking his identity to obtain American citizenship.

Tulfo, who is eyeing a senatorial seat, is under intense scrutiny over allegations of identity theft in America. A document allegedly from the US Embassy informed a certain “Erich Sylvester Tulfo” that his US passport had been revoked.

The letter, dated 11 October 2022, stated that Tulfo faked his identity using the name Erich Sylvester Tulfo, reportedly born in Hawaii on 30 December 1965, to acquire an American passport.

“An investigation revealed that Erich Sylvester Tulfo, born on 30 December 1965, in Hawaii, is not your true identity. Evidence suggests that you are Erwin Teshiba Tulfo, born on 10 August 1963, in Tacloban City, Leyte, Philippines,” the letter read.

Tulfo first faced a similar controversy in mid-2022 when the Commission on Appointments (CA) bypassed his ad interim appointment twice as secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development due to issues surrounding his citizenship and a libel conviction.

“If it’s because of me being then a TNT [or] being an undocumented alien [that] I’m not allowed to serve, I’m not allowed to work in our country, which I only did to feed my children, to help them overcome hardship, if you think that’s my fault, then I’m guilty,” Tulfo said yesterday in Filipino during a radio program shared on his official Facebook page.

However, Tulfo did not directly address the alleged faking of his US citizenship by assuming the identity of Erich Sylvester Tulfo.

Erwin, like his brother Senator Raffy Tulfo, was a hard-hitting journalist. Their other brothers, Ramon and Ben, are also in the media.

Tulfo said he became an American citizen in the late 1980s but had renounced it prior to taking the DSWD chief position.

Still, his admission failed to appease critics, and the CA eventually blocked his appointment. He later joined the House as a replacement for then ACT-CIS Rep. Jeffrey Soriano, who vacated the post.

In a radio interview, Tulfo said that he went to the US in 1986 on a tourist visa and worked various jobs to provide for his family, particularly his children.

“If I had money, I wouldn’t have gone. I wouldn’t have left. Whoever it is, those OFWs (overseas Filipino workers), if they have money, will they leave? No,” the lawmaker said emotionally.

“I didn’t do anything wrong. I went to America to feed [and provide for the studies] of my children. That’s what I did, that’s the only mistake that I made. I was a TNT.”

As of December, Tulfo leads both Pulse Asia and Social Weather Stations polls, outpacing veteran senators such as Bong Revilla and Pia Cayetano.