I have on TV three times (that I know of): I got interviewed for a news show when the LRT 2 was just newly opened (I was still a student then, yeah I’m old); I got focused as part of the crowd watching an NCAA game for hamming it up to the cameras; and I was on Tulfo.

The reason why I was on Tulfo is a long story but to make it short, I was there to claim something that someone else found. I checked, it’s not one of their viral segments but it’s somewhere on the internet or if not, it’s at least in that network’s archives. Here’s a clue, I said “more power”. I was on TV for about 15 minutes but the whole thing took about 3 hours – and I did not tell my friends I was going to be on that day.

Something gripped the nation days before I wrote this piece: is lugaw essential or not? There was this viral video posted by a Grab food delivery guy that he was being reprimanded by a certain Baranggay’s official for being out during a quarantine curfew, saying that what he’s delivering (lugaw) is not essential. And in viral videos like this, you will see in the comments section that people are tagging the Tulfo Facebook page.

In fact, some people think of the show first before going to the proper authorities, and I kind of understand it. First of all, it’s on national TV and on one of the largest YouTube channels in the Country (maybe even the world, it’s close to 20 Million subs as this writing), so it draws attention. Secondly, those who are on there get immediate action (or at least I think they do). And third, is that they know how to “talk” to the masses for good ratings.

I wrote something, about three years ago, that Specialty Coffee “Scares” Filipinos not because it’s expensive – it’s because it’s something most people are not exposed to and understand. Instant coffee is marketed and priced for mass consumption, second wave coffee is associated with being fancy, and third wave may seem intimidating because it goes against everything their familiar with in terms of coffee. And that’s just coffee.

Now Tulfo doesn’t sell coffee (but may be sponsored by some) but they do offer something for people who either have no resources (not just money, time is a resource that not everyone has and sometimes going the legal route takes a lot of it), or are just not aware of what they should do. They’re not outright exploiting people, unlike some who want them to stay that way, they’re just offering their services to people who may need it. Thus the prospect of being on TV, meeting “idol”, while potentially getting a solution for their problem is enticing and people will tend to seek this way first or to immediately go there once they feel nothing is being done.

Take why I was there for example: Whatever it was I had to claim was picked up by this person and instead of checking for any identification, just immediately thought about giving it to Tulfo’s team. Now, we have to admit that this is easier for that person since they don’t have to risk being accused of stealing and the show has resources to do an active search for the owner which worked; We tried to ask that we claim the thing off-air but the show’s representative insisted that it has to be done on-air because there was money inside that met the show’s guidelines for needing to be televised; The guy who found it was praised live on TV along with his organization, I had to thank him on behalf of the actual owner (I was only a representative), and I said “more power” on live TV.

It definitely was a unique opportunity getting to see the frenetic behind the scenes of live network TV. There was a lot of shouting, I remember that distinctly, and they have to scramble like that because you see what happens when “idol” gets displeased with his staff.

The show itself is not my cup of tea, but you can’t deny the fact that it’s popular and it’s probably going to stay that way for years. People like it as much as they like instant coffee, it’s not the best way to do things but it’s the quickest way. And to you reading this, more power to you.

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