Senator Erwin Tulfo clarified that members of the Senate minority bloc checked on fellow lawmakers after the May 13 shooting incident inside the Senate complex.
In an interview on Thursday, Tulfo denied Senator Pia Cayetano’s earlier statement that no one had supposedly reached out to senators from the majority bloc following the incident.
“Hindi po [totoo]. ‘Yung kanyang emosyon, dala ng takot. Pero no’ng sinabi niyang walang nangumusta, meron po kaming chat group sa WhatsApp… Meron po,” Tulfo said.
[Translation: That’s not true. Her emotions were driven by fear. But when she said no one checked on them, we have a WhatsApp group… There were people who did.]
Tulfo said several senators expressed concern and sent messages after learning about the gunfire incident.
Among those he mentioned were Senators Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, Bam Aquino, Sherwin Gatchalian, and himself.
The senator recalled that he was on his way to Baclaran Church when he received information about the shooting inside the Senate premises.
Tulfo said he immediately sent a message to their Senate WhatsApp group at around 9:57 p.m. saying, “Praying for all of you.”
He added that Senator Camille Villar later replied to the group chat saying, “Thank you, we’re all okay.”
Tulfo said he could not explain why Cayetano supposedly did not see the messages sent by other senators.
“Nag-message naman po kami sa WhatsApp group namin. Ewan ko po kung bakit hindi nabasa ni Senadora Pia,” he said.
[Translation: We sent messages in our WhatsApp group. I don’t know why Senator Pia did not see them.]
The issue surfaced after Cayetano turned emotional during a privilege speech earlier this week while recounting her experience during the shooting scare inside the Senate building.
