Web Video / Raffy Tulfo

Idol Raffy.

Rafael "Raffy" Teshiba Tulfo (born 12 March 1960) is a Filipino journalist, television, internet personality, and politician who is best known for his weekday radio programme Wanted sa Radyo on Radyo5 92.3 News FM as well as the Raffy Tulfo in Action YouTube channel, which focuses on issues involving the poor and marginalised from domestic affairs to (deserving) indigents who are in dire need of assistance. Besides his work on Wanted sa Radyo, he has also appeared on a number of investigative and public service shows like Philippines' Most Wanted, Task Force Siyasat and Problema Mo, Sagot Ko.

To those unfamiliar with Tulfo and his programmes, his shows could basically be described as Judge Judy, The Jerry Springer Show and Maury rolled into one, especially in terms of the countless (sensationalised) domestic dispute cases being aired on the channel.

His brothers Ben, Mon, and Erwin are also well-known media personalities, featuring similar, if not more brash approaches in their respective shows.

Tulfo's main YouTube channel has—as of 2024—over 27.3 million subscribers and 15.7 billion views, making him third in ones of the most viewed and most subscribed channels from the Philippines, only surpassed by the two largest media conglomerates in the country, ABS-CBN and GMA Network.

Buoyed by the massive popularity of his programme, Tulfo formally entered politics and became elected senator in 2022.

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Raffy Tulfo's videos provide examples of:

• Author Filibuster: In rare occasions, RTIA uploads clips outside of the famous "Sumbong at Aksyon" (Complaint and Action) segment, where Tulfo would air his opinions about a major issue or display some of his work as senator.
• Auto-Tune: Used in the chorus of the theme tune for his public service programme.
• Back-Alley Doctor: A lady named Irish had her breasts augmented by a shady "plastic surgeon" who injected foreign substances into the poor woman's chest. It didn't take long for her to tearfully regret it and seek Tulfo's help with her ordeal.
• Brutal Honesty: Unsurprising considering how the Tulfo brothers are infamous for this.
• Caps Lock: Most if not all of his videos on YouTube have titles WRITTEN LIKE THIS, on top of said titles being sensationalistic.
• Cheating with the Milkman: Countless episodes both of Idol in Action and his YouTube channel revolve around errant women cheating on their husbands with a service provider or some other houseguest. One such case involved a woman named after a certain famous animator who was caught by her husband having an illicit relationship with a worker. The woman and her husband eventually reached a settlement wherein they would part ways, albeit with the husband taking responsibility for their children's expenses.
• Cluster Bleep-Bomb: Oddly enough, even terms such as "hitman" or "molest" were bleeped out despite them being innocuous in themselves unless used in a threatening context, likely because they're playing it too safe even with YouTube's arguably draconian community guidelines.
• Cluster F-Bomb: Happens from time to time either on the respondents' part, the so-called "keyboard warriors", aka his fans on social media who would leave comments on his videos regarding the subject, or from Tulfo himself. Though unlike his brothers he appears to be a tad bit less of a potty mouth given that he runs a YouTube channel.
• Daddy DNA Test: Besides extramarital affairs and child custodies, finding out a baby's real parents has also been a recurring subject.
• Dude, Not Funny!: A female complainant ratted out her husband over what the latter did to their children, i.e. put them on a noose both as a form of blackmail and to discipline the kids. Needless to say, it amounted to child abuse no matter how much the husband tried to dismiss it as a mere joke.
• Everyone Has Standards: He won't hesitate to cuss like his brothers, but he draws the line in using terms he deems denigrating like referring to special needs people as "abnormal" or "Mongoloid"^note An archaic term for people with Down Syndrome, now deemed as both ableist as well as racist towards Mongolian people. or shanty dwellers as "squatters",^note Philippine press and media prefer to use the euphemism "informal settlers" as a more polite way to refer to illegitimate residents of a parcel of land, as the word "squatter" earned a rather negative connotation among the poor. as he would would occasionally chastise his guests for saying such pejoratives.
• Free-Range Children: In one episode, a fourteen-year old girl ran all the way from her home by herself in order to file a complaint to Tulfo and help out her bed-stricken grandmother.
• Foil: To his brothers' more hard-boiled personalities.
• Gold Digger: In some episodes, foreigners have mounted complaints against their erstwhile Filipina girlfriends who have merely used them for the money and not much else.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: There have been a number of occasions where the complainant actually turns out to be the one at fault, and lend themselves well to public humiliation.
  • One case involved drag comedian Tekla and his erstwhile girlfriend Michelle. The woman complained to Tulfo accusing Tekla of domestic violence against her and their baby who had a congenital disease; a few days later, it was revealed that Michelle was on drugs while pregnant, and still using drugs after childbirth. Raffy Tulfo called her out of this, and Tekla was eventually exonerated. To this day, the final video about Tekla and Michelle is the most commented Raffy Tulfo video, with at least 174,000 comments.
• Insistent Terminology: As explained above, Philippine press people—Raffy included—prefer to address shanty dwellers as "informal settlers" instead of "squatters" due to the stigma associated by the latter term.
• Instant Humiliation: Just Add YouTube!: More often than not, those being complained against by the respondent tend to get a metric ton of this from the audience, whose comments would occasionally be read by Tulfo's staff at times.
• Insult Backfire: At least one episode has the accused person state that she scoffed off any and all criticism from netizens as said insults made her stronger as a person.
• Kinetic Clicking: Can be heard in some cases when both parties are introduced on-screen.
• Long-Runners: "Wanted sa Radyo" has been airing since 1994.
• Multi-Part Episode: Some cases can stretch over multiple episodes. References and/or links to previous/succeeding parts would be provided on-screen or in the description. One case even lasted 12 parts!
• Pædo Hunt: Quite a few episodes has him deal with child abusers, including a Squick-worthy video of a three-year old being abused by a man, and someone who admitted to an illicit affair with a teenager, whom Raffy bluntly accused of being a paedophile on the phone.
• Person as Verb: His name has since become synonymous with direct, "action-based" public service intervention to the point that it has become something of a verb, e.g. "ipapa-Tulfo kita", translating to "I'll file a complaint about you to Tulfo!"
• Piss-Take Rap: In fairness he did it all in good fun, but one of the theme songs for his programme where he recorded a number of rap verses shows that he is a journalist, not a rapper.
• Point-and-Laugh Show: Raffy's public service programmes have been described by critics as a Jerry Springer clone where subjects of complaints, especially those from indigent backgrounds, wind up being the butt of humiliation and shame from the audience who sympathise with the complainant.
• Product Placement: His programmes would occasionally be interspersed with ads for various health supplements and other brands which he and/or his brothers have endorsed. Not to mention, sometimes celebrities act like complainants only for them to endorse a product in the end.
• Shamed by a Mob: The mob being Raffy's legions of fans, otherwise known as the "keyboard warriors".
• Special Guest: Given his popularity, it isn't surprising to see Tulfo collaborate and at times join in on pranks and other light-hearted stunts with numerous Filipino celebrities, including but not limited to Alex Gonzaga and Ivana Alawi.
• Start My Own: Tulfo came up with his own online store to compete with the likes of Lazada and Shopee, two of the most popular e-commerce sites in the Philippines, in a similar vein to Amazon in the States.
• Temporary Substitute: As a result of his senatorial campaign and eventual victory in 2022, Tulfo has appeared less frequently and has been substituted by a large cast of hosts, nearly all of which are lawyers.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Raffy and/or the complainant would give this to the subject of the complaint, confronting the perp over his/her shortcomings and/or whichever cruel deeds he/she did.
• This Is Unforgivable!: Raffy would definitely not hesitate to decline aid to someone if they were found to have done something he cannot stomach, and would verbally bash the living daylights out of someone who was found to have committed something as heinous or abhorrent as rape, child abuse or animal cruelty.
• We Help the Helpless: It's pretty much his bread and butter, and it shows from the massive fanbase he gained who would sing praises over his charity and public service work. Considering how his brand of "action-based public service" has resulted in swifter aid being carried out, compared to formally taking matters to court which could drag on for ages (though Tulfo himself notes that he is not a substitute for a trial court and has referred to it at times) and could use sophisticated legalese the typical Filipino "masa" cannot comprehend, the common folk have turned to him for advice and/or aid on personal as well as professional matters, to the point that it isn't unusual for long queues◊ to pile up outside the studio where Raffy is airing his programmes from.