Erwin Tulfo admits he worked illegally in US

ACT-CIS Rep. Erwin Tulfo said on Monday that he had once been an undocumented worker in the United States.

Tulfo made the admission during a radio program, amid the allegation that he had used a fake identity to acquire a US passport.

“Nagtungo po ako sa Amerika para pakainin ang anak ko, pag-aralin. That’s what I did. That’s the only mistake that I did—nag-TNT po ako (I went to America to fed my child, send him to school. That’s what I did. That’s the only mistake I did — I went TNT)”, he said.

Tulfo said he had had to quit college when he became a father, and worked

for a newspaper.

He said that when the child was born, he borrowed money from coworkers for the hospital bill.

Tulfo later applied for a tourist visa at the US Embassy.

“Umalis po ako ng Pilipinas para mag-TNT po ako sa Amerika, ‘tago ng tago’. Ibig sabihin, undocumented po ako, undocumented alien, undocumented OCW”, he said.

OCW, for overseas contract worker, is the original term for overseas Filipino worker or OFW.

Tulfo left the Philippines in the 1980s.

“Kung may pera ho ako (If I had had money), I wouldn’t have gone, I wouldn’t have left”, he said.

Tulfo also denied defrauding Filipinos or Americans in the US.