Senator Erwin Tulfo pushed back Thursday against Senator Pia Cayetano’s assertion that colleagues from the minority bloc failed to reach out following the May 13 shooting inside the Senate complex, saying messages of concern were in fact sent through a shared WhatsApp group that same night.
Tulfo, speaking to Unang Balita’s Unang Balita, said the group chat includes senators from both the majority and minority blocs, and that at least three of his colleagues — Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, Bam Aquino, and Sherwin Gatchalian — sent messages after the incident, as did he.
“We have a WhatsApp group chat that includes all members of both the majority and minority blocs. Messages were sent there by Sen. Kiko, Sen. Bam, Sen. Sherwin, and I also,” Tulfo said in Filipino.
He said he personally sent a message at around 9:57 p.m. that read, “Praying for all of you,” and that Senator Camille Villar subsequently replied in the same chat, saying: “Thank you, we’re all okay.”
Sources also told the Inquirer that Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri was among those who sent messages checking on majority bloc members.
Tulfo said he could not explain why Cayetano appeared unaware of those exchanges. “I really don’t know why Senator Pia did not see those messages,” he said in Filipino.
Cayetano’s remarks came during Wednesday’s Senate session, when she responded emotionally to Senator Risa Hontiveros, who had suggested the chamber was conducting itself as though nothing had happened — “parang walang nangyari.” Cayetano said it stung deeply that people she had known for decades never reached out.
“Some of you I’ve known for 20 years, 10 years and I didn’t even hear any of you say, ‘Kumusta na kayo dyan? Napakasakit nu’n sa akin, sobrang sakit (How are you doing there? That was very painful for me, extremely painful),'” Cayetano said.
