Senator Raffy Tulfo confirmed on Tuesday, Jan. 28 that his son Quezon City 2nd District Rep. Ralph Wendel Tulfo was apprehended for unauthorized use of the EDSA Busway.
"So kinausap ko si Ralph tungkol dun sa insidente at in-admit niya at katakot-takot na nag-sorry siya sakin sabi ko huwag na huwag mo nang uulitin and sabi ko sa kanya kailangan mo mag-apologize sa taumbayan (I talked to Ralph about the incident, and he admitted it and apologized profusely. I told him never to do it again, and I said he needs to apologize to the public)," the senator said in a video sent by his office.
According to a Manila Bulletin report, the car was apprehended by enforcers of the Special And Intelligence Committee for Transportation (SAICT) of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) as it is not on the list of vehicles that are allowed to use the EDSA Busway, which is exclusive for passenger buses.
The incident happened on Jan. 23 and involved a sports utility vehicle driven by a certain Kenneth de Guzman.
A violation ticket was issued to De Guzman by a SAICT-DOTr enforcer.
The unauthorized use of EDSA Busway is fined by P5,000.
"Ang pagkakaalam ko ata nagmamadali siya, yung driver niya yata ang pumasok doon sa bus stop. At pinagalitan ko siya, pinagsabihan ko (From what I know, I think he was in a hurry, and it seems like his driver was the one who went into the bus stop. I scolded him, I told him off)," he said in a chance interview.
Senator Tulfo said that the fine was already paid and that driver would be attending a seminar. He mentioned that the good thing about this is that his son didn't lie about it and admitted what happened and apologized.
"Inadmit naman niya hindi naman siya nagsinungaling at nag-apologize siya so wala akong nakikitang problema doon as long as hindi siya tumakas (He admitted what he did, he didn't lie and he apologized, so I don't see any problem there as long as he didn't run away)," the senator said.
"Hindi siya gumamit ng plakang otso, which karapatan niyang gumamit pero hindi siya gumamit it just shows na hindi siya abusado. Kaya lang it so happened na nagamit niya yun (He didn't use the number eight plate, which he had the right to use, but he chose not to, showing that he isn't abusive. However, it just so happened that he ended up using it [EDSA busway])," he added.