History WebVideo / RaffyTulfo

Tulfo's main [=YouTube=] channel has--as of 2024--over 27.3 million subscribers and 15.7 billion views, making him third in ones of the most viewed and most subscribed channels from the Philippines, only surpassed by the two largest media conglomerates in the country, Creator/ABSCBN and Creator/GMANetwork

Tulfo's main [=YouTube=] channel has--as of 2024--over 27.3 million subscribers and 15.7 billion views, making him third in ones of the most viewed and most subscribed channels from the Philippines, only surpassed by the two largest media conglomerates in the country, Creator/{{ABS-CBN}} and Creator/{{GMANetwork}}.

Rafael "Raffy" Teshiba Tulfo (born 12 March 1960) is a Filipino journalist, television and internet personality who is best known for his weekday radio programme ''Wanted sa Radyo'' on [=Radyo5=] 92.3 News FM as well as the [[https://www.youtube.com/user/UCxhygwqQ1ZMoBGQM2yEcNug Raffy Tulfo in Action]] Website/YouTube channel, which focuses on issues involving the poor and marginalised from domestic affairs to (deserving) indigents who are in dire need of assistance. Besides his work on ''Wanted sa Radyo'', he has also appeared on a number of investigative and public service shows like ''Philippines' Most Wanted'', ''Task Force Siyasat'' and ''Problema Mo, Sagot Ko''.

Tulfo's main [=YouTube=] channel has--as of 2021--over 19.5 million subscribers and 9.2 billion views, making him third in ones of the most viewed and most subscribed channels from the Philippines, only surpassed by the two largest media conglomerates in the country, ABS-CBN and GMA.

* FollowTheLeader: Philippines Most Wanted is, by Tulfo's own admission, closely patterned after the police procedural programme ''Series/AmericasMostWanted''.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: There have been a number of occasions where the complainant ''actually turns out to be the one at fault'', and lends themself well to public humiliation.

* GoldDigger: Raffy Tulfo sometimes occasionally help mostly Caucasian foreigners who say they have been used as a walking ATM machine by their Filipina girlfriends.

* PointAndLaughShow: Raffy's public service programmes have been described by critics as a ''Jerry Springer'' analogue where subjects of complaints, especially those from indigent backgrounds, wind up being the butt of humiliation and shame from the audience who sympathise with the complainant.

* GoldDigger: Raffy Tulfo sometimes encounter and servicing the complaints of many foreigners who say they are a victim of this trope by their Filipina girlfriends.

To those unfamiliar with Tulfo and his programmes, his shows could basically be described as ''Series/JudgeJudy'' and ''Series/TheJerrySpringerShow'' rolled into one, especially in terms of the countless (rather sensationalised) domestic dispute cases being aired on the channel.

* CheatingWithTheMilkman: Countless episodes both of ''Idol in Action'' and his [=YouTube=] channel revolve around errant women cheating on their husbands with a service provider or some other houseguest. One such case involved a woman [[NamedAfterSomebodyFamous named after a certain famous person]] who was caught by her husband having an illicit relationship with a worker. The woman and her husband eventually reached a settlement wherein they would part ways, albeit with the husband taking responsibility for their children's expenses. %%Participant's name not mentioned out of respect for her privacy

* WeHelpTheHelpless: It's pretty much his bread and butter, and it shows from the massive fanbase he gained who would sing praises over his charity and public service work. Considering how his brand of "action-based public service" has resulted in swifter aid being carried out, compared to formally taking matters to court which could drag on for ages (though Tulfo himself notes that he is not a substitute for a trial court and has referred to it at times) and could use sophisticated legalese the typical Filipino "masa" cannot comprehend, the common folk have turned to him for advice and/or aid on personal as well as professional matters.

* AutoTune: Used on the chorus of the theme tune for his public service programme.

* BrutalHonesty: Unsurprising considering how the Tulfo brothers is infamous for this.
* CapsLock: Most if not all of his videos on [=YouTube=] have titles WRITTEN LIKE THIS, on top of said titles being of sensationalist nature.
* CheatingWithTheMilkman: Countless episodes both on ''Idol in Action'' and his [=YouTube=] channel revolve around errant women cheating on their husbands with a service provider or some other house guest. One such case involved a woman [[NamedAfterSomebodyFamous named after a certain famous person]] who was caught by his husband having an illicit relationship with a worker. The woman and her husband eventually reached a settlement where they would part ways, albeit with the husband taking responsibility for their children's expenses. %%Participant's name not mentioned out of respect for her privacy
* ClusterBleepBomb: Oddly enough, even terms such as "hitman" or "molest" were bleeped out despite the word being innocuous in itself unless used in a threatening context, likely as they're playing it too safe with [=YouTube=]'s arguably draconian community guidelines.
* ClusterFBomb: Happens from time to time either on the respondents' part, the so-called "keyboard warriors" aka his fans on social media who would leave comments on his videos regarding the subject, or Tulfo himself. Though unlike his brothers he appears to be a tad less of a potty mouth especially given that he runs a [=YouTube=] channel.

* DudeNotFunny: A female complainant ratted out her husband over what the latter did to their children, i.e. put them on a noose both as a form of blackmail and to discipline the kids. Needless to say, it amounted to [[WouldHurtAChild child abuse]] no matter how the husband tried to dismiss it as a mere joke.

* FreeRangeChildren: In one episode, a fourteen-year old girl went all the way from her home by herself in order to file a complaint to Tulfo and help out her bed-stricken grandmother.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: There has been a number of occasions where the complainant ''actually turns out to be the one at fault'', and it does lend itself well to public humiliation.
** One case involved drag comedian Tekla and his erstwhile girlfriend Michelle. The woman complained to Tulfo accusing Tekla of domestic violence against her and their baby ''who had a congenital disease''; a few days later, it turns out that Michelle was on drugs while pregnant, and still using drugs after childbirth. Raffy Tulfo [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNjRoHBzUx8&ab_channel=RaffyTulfoinAction called her]] out of this, and Tekla was eventually exonerated. To this day, the final video about Tekla and Michelle ''is'' the most commented Raffy Tulfo Video, with at least 174,000 comments.
* InstantHumiliationJustAddYouTube: More often than not, those being complained by the respondent tends to get a metric ton of this especially from the audience, of whom whose comments would occasionally be read by Tulfo's staff at times.

* PaedoHunt: Quite a few episodes has him deal with child abusers, including a {{Squick}}-worthy video of a three-year old being abused by a man, and someone who admitted to an illicit affair with a teenager, which Raffy bluntly accused of being a paedophile on the phone.
* PersonAsVerb: His name has since become synonymous with direct, "action-based" public service intervention to the point that it has become something of a verb e.g. "ipapa-Tulfo kita", translating to "I'll file a complaint about you to Tulfo!"

* ShamedByAMob: By Raffy's legions of fans that is, otherwise known as the "keyboard warriors".

* StartMyOwn: Tulfo came up with his own [[https://idolshoppingnetwork.com/ online store]] to compete with the likes of Lazada and Shopee, two of the most popular e-commerce sites in the Philippines in similar vein to Amazon in the States.

* ThisIsUnforgivable: Raffy would definitely not hesitate to decline aid to someone if they were found to have done something he cannot stomach, and would bash the living daylights out of someone who was found to have committed something as heinous or abhorrent like rape, child abuse or animal cruelty.
* WeHelpTheHelpless: It's pretty much his bread and butter, and it shows from the massive fanbase he gained who would sing praises over his charity and public service work. Considering how his brand of "action-based public service" has resulted in swift aid being carried out compared to formally taking matters to court which could drag on for ages (though Tulfo himself notes that he is not a substitute for a trial court and has referred to it at times) and use sophisticated legalese the typical Filipino "masa" could not comprehend, the common folk have turned to him for advice and/or aid on personal as well as professional matters.

* PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad: Oddly enough, even terms such as "hitman" or "molest" were bleeped out despite the word being innocuous in itself unless used in a threatening context, likely as they're playing it too safe with [=YouTube=]'s arguably draconian community guidelines.

* EveryoneHasStandards: He won't hesitate to cuss like his brothers, but he draws the line in using terms he deems denigrating like referring to special needs people as "abnormal" or " Mongoloid" (people with Down Syndrome) or shanty dwellers as "squatters",[[note]]Philippine press and media prefer to use the euphemism "informal settlers" as a more polite way to refer to illegitimate residents of a parcel of land, as the word "squatter" earned a rather negative connotation among the poor.[[/note]] as he would would occasionally chastise his guests for saying such pejoratives.

* EveryoneHasStandards: He won't hesitate to cuss like his brothers, but he draws the line in using terms he deems denigrating like referring to special needs people as "abnormal" or "[[UsefulNotes/DownSyndrome Mongoloid]]" or shanty dwellers as "squatters",[[note]]Philippine press and media prefer to use the euphemism "informal settlers" as a more polite way to refer to illegitimate residents of a parcel of land, as the word "squatter" earned a rather negative connotation among the poor.[[/note]] as he would would occasionally chastise his guests for saying such pejoratives.

* EveryoneHasStandards: He won't hesitate to cuss like his brothers, but he draws the line in using terms he deems denigrating like referring to special needs people as "abnormal" or "Mongoloid" or shanty dwellers as "squatters",[[note]]Philippine press and media prefer to use the euphemism "informal settlers" as a more polite way to refer to illegitimate residents of a parcel of land, as the word "squatter" earned a rather negative connotation among the poor.[[/note]] as he would would occasionally chastise his guests for saying such pejoratives.

* EveryoneHasStandards: He won't hesitate to cuss like his brothers, but he draws the line in using terms he deems denigrating like referring to special needs people as "abnormal" or "Mongoloid" or shanty dwellers as "squatters", as he would would occasionally chastise his guests for saying such pejoratives.

Tulfo's main [=YouTube=] channel has--as of 2021--over 19.5 million subscribers and 9.2 billion views, making him one of the most viewed and most subscribed channels from the Philippines.

** One case involved drag comedian Tekla and his erstwhile girlfriend Michelle. The woman complained to Tulfo accusing Tekla of domestic violence against her and their baby ''who had a congenital disease''; a few days later, it turns out that Michelle was on drugs while pregnant, and still using drugs after childbirth. Raffy Tulfo [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNjRoHBzUx8&ab_channel=RaffyTulfoinAction called her]] out of this, and Tekla was eventually exonerated.

To those unfamiliar with Tulfo and his programmes, his shows could basically be described as a cross between ''Series/JudgeJudy'' and ''Series/TheJerrySpringerShow'' rolled into one, especially in terms of the countless (rather sensationalised) domestic dispute cases being aired on the channel.

** One case involved drag comedian Tekla and his erstwhile girlfriend. The woman complained to Tulfo accusing Tekla of domestic violence against her and their baby ''who had a congenital disease''; a few days later, it turns out that Michelle was on drugs while pregnant, and still using drugs after childbirth. Raffy Tulfo [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNjRoHBzUx8&ab_channel=RaffyTulfoinAction called her]] out of this, and Tekla was eventually exonerated.