Senator Erwin Tulfo’s recent pronouncements — threatening to physically remove, personally arrest, or cause the arrest of any senator conducting what he calls an illegitimate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing — are not merely unbecoming.
They are legally indefensible, constitutionally ignorant, and institutionally corrosive.
Tulfo’s outburst is not bravado. This is about a sitting senator publicly advertising his willingness to violate the Constitution he swore to uphold.
And the Senate cannot pretend this is normal.
Under the Constitution, no senator has the authority to arrest another senator for performing legislative functions.
Not Tulfo. Not anyone.
The Senate is a co-equal body. Its members are protected by parliamentary immunity for acts done in the performance of their duties.
Tulfo’s threats therefore fall into two damning categories. First, it is legally impossible, because he has no arrest power over his peers. Second, it is legally questionable, because threatening to impede legislative functions may itself constitute misconduct.
A senator who does not understand the limits of his authority is dangerous.
A senator who understands them but threatens his peers anyway is worse.
Tulfo’s claim that he alone is the “duly constituted” Blue Ribbon chair is not a matter settled by shouting. It is settled by Senate rules, precedent, and formal designation — none of which are determined by who has the bigger microphone.
His threats to “arrest” senators who convene a hearing he dislikes reveal a profound misunderstanding of legislative procedure.
They also expose a deeper insecurity that he wants to control the Blue Ribbon Committee before the Blue Ribbon Committee can scrutinise him.
Tulfo’s insistence on chairing the Senate’s premier accountability committee would already raise eyebrows. But the fact that he is himself accused of receiving money from the flood-control mess makes his position untenable.
In any credible institution, ajudge does not hear a case where he is implicated. An auditor does not audit his own books. And a senator under a cloud of corruption allegations does not chair the committee tasked with investigating corruption.
Tulfo’s refusal to step aside — and his threats against those who challenge him — only deepen the suspicion that he fears scrutiny more than he values integrity.
The Senate’s authority rests not on force, but on reason, restraint, and respect for constitutional boundaries.
Tulfo’s foul-mouthed tirades and macho theatrics drag the chamber down to the level of a street brawl.
