Will it matter at all that the Tulfos are returning the P60 million pesos that it received from the Department of Tourism’s (DOT’s) advertising fund placed with PTV4?
The answer is no. Because while that’s P60M in taxpayers’ money that changed hands from DOT to PTV4 to the Tulfos’ production outfit Bitag Media, and of course we want it returned, there is little here that tells us it won’t happen again. Neither is there any indication that more of it isn’t happening. See, there are just too many other questions about this triumvirate of two government agencies and one private company, bound together by the Tulfo name. There are too many questions that demand answers.
(1) What is the contract between the Tulfos’ Bitag Media and government station PTV4? Because blocktimers do not get ad placements from the network it is paying to air its shows. Which means that it is only PTV4 that should be earning from Bitag Media, and not the other way around.
(2) Is Bitag Media also the producer of PTV4 shows iTravelPinas, WonderfulPinas, and Travel Pass?
All three shows are part of Bitag Media’s official pages, from Facebook to YouTube to its own website. In the proposal sent by PTNI to DOT, it clearly states that they have a production company that can handle the creation of these shows.
On the Bitag Media page, iTravelPinas appears alongside the other shows it produces:
(3) In the proposal from PTNI to DOT released by Wanda Teo’s camp, PTNI clearly states not just Kilos Pronto as the show where “snippets” of the DOT shows will be shown; it also talks about doing different shows for the DOT.
This begs the question: Was PTV paid by DOT to produce those three shows? If yes, that means when Kat De Castro said they were spending only P200,000 per iTravelPinas show, which is a total of P9.6 MILLION a year, that in fact that amount went to PTV4, too — and whoever its production company.
That would mean that other than the P60M in ad placements from DOT, PTV4 also earned at least P9.6M from DOT per year.
(4) If Bitag Media is the producer of iTravelPinas, then it did not only earn from producing the show, it also earned by getting the snippets of the show placed on Bitag Media’s Kilos Pronto as advertisements.
That would mean the Tulfo brothers earned twice from one project which their sister’s leadership at DOT signed off on.
(5) What also appears on the Bitag Media pages are two other shows: Wonderful Pinas — with one incarnation as Wanda-ful Pinas — hosted by Wanda Teo herself, and Travel Pass which is hosted by Kilos Pronto co-host Alex Santos. Does Bitag Media have a hand in the creation of these shows, too? If yes, shall we multiply that P9.6 million a year by three?
That means at least another P28M pesos for PTV4 and its production company, other than the P60M in ad placements from DOT.
(6) All three DOT shows are introduced by Kilos Pronto host Alex Santos, usually while the Tulfo brothers also sit at the same panel. The conflict-of-interest is as clear as day when you see the Tulfo brothers’ Ate Wanda’s face saying: “What a wonderful day Pilipinas!”
It’s also important to ask what returning P60M means. It means that what was caught by COA as a transaction that lacked the proper documents is being spun as nothing more than a matter of money falling onto the Tulfos’ lap, and now that they’ve “realized” that it looks bad, they will return it willingly. This does nothing but allow Teo, the PTV leadership, the PCOO, and the Tulfos, to evade accountability for having even been part of this transaction.
(7) Which they might still be a part of. While the P60M is for 2017 DOT ad placements on PTV4 / Bitag Media, these same ad placements continue to run on Bitag Media’s Kilos Pronto in 2018. This list is generated from Bitag Media’s official pages (Facebook, YouTube, and website).
Mar 21 2017 – Wandaful Pilipinas: Star Cruises, SuperStar Virgo
Mar 24 2017 – iTravelPinas: Paoay Sand Dunes
Mar 23 2017 – TravelPass, Rizal Park
Mar 31 2017 – iTravelPinas Ilocos Norte
Apr 4 2017 – Wonderful Pilipinas, Madrid Fusion
Apr 6 2017 – TravelPass, Intramuros
Apr 21 2017 – TravelPass, Paco Park
Apr 24 2017 – iTravelPinas La Union
May 5 2017 – TravelPass, Nayong Pilipino
May 14 2017 – iTravelPinas: Capiz
May 29 2017 – iTravelPinas: Iloilo
Jun 5 2017 – iTravel Pinas: Iloilo & Guimaras
June 10 2017 – iTravel Pinas Aklan
July 3 2017 – Wonderful Pinas, Balesin Island Club
July 8 2017 – iTravelPinas, Caramoan
July 15 2017 – iTravelPinas, Catanduanes
Jun 18 2017 – iTravel Pinas Antique
July 30 2017 – iTravelPinas Misibis Bay
Aug 27 2017 – TravelPass: Kadayawan Festival
Sept 11 2017 – Wonderful Pinas, MSAP media congress
Sept 27 2017 – Travel Pass, Intramuros Open House
Jan 5 2018 – iTravelPinas, 2017 travel goals
Jan 16 2018 – WonderfulPinas, Boracay
Jan 31 2018 – TravelPass: Sinulog Festival
Feb 2 2018 – iTravel, Zambales
Feb 7 2018 — TravelPass, Hot Air Balloon Festival
Feb 9 2018 – iTravelPinas, Aurora
Feb 12 2018 – WonderfulPinas, Aerial Acrobat
Feb 16 2018 – ITravelPinas, Bataan
Feb 19 2018 – Wonderful Pinas, Chinese New Year Celebrations
Feb 23 2018 — iTravelPinas Bataan
Feb 28 2017 — Travel Pass: Paco Park Classical Music Celebration
March 2 2018 – iTravelPinas, Baguio
March 16 2018 – iTravelPinas, Nueva Vizcaya
March 23 2018 – iTravelPinas Cagayan
April 3 2018 – TravelPass Siargao
April 6 2018 – iTravelPinas, Flavors of the Philippines
April 13 2018 – iTravelPinas Nueva Ecija
April 27 2018 – iTravelPinas Isabela
April 20 2018 – iTravelPinas Tarlac
(8) That President Duterte has yet to act decisively on Wanda Teo, and has yet to terminate her services; that there has been no decision to disengage from Kilos Pronto, even after this show has earned at least the P60 million it has admitted it received from PTV4 in ad placements from DOT; that there is no indication that the Tulfos will now be declared personas non grata to this government. Duterte has nothing to gain, and everything to lose by keeping the Tulfos on his side.
If anything, keeping them will only prove that even the strongest stench of corruption is acceptable to him, as long as his sacred cows are not touched.
And if the Tulfos are your sacred cows, that says a lot about you as President. ***