Contractor says visit to Erwin Tulfo about terrace, not flood issue
Controversial contractor Mina Jose of WJ Construction on Thursday admitted to visiting the office of Sen. Erwin Tulfo last month. But she clarified that the visit was for an “office refurbishment project” and not related to any flood control project, which has been recently placed under scrutiny.
Jose was pressed by senators at the committee on blue ribbon hearing to disclose why she was seen in the Senate premises on Aug. 19, 2025.
Former Department of Public Works and Highways district engineer Brice Hernandez earlier tagged WJ Construction for “delivering kickbacks” to the upper chamber.
Jose said she was in the Senate to visit Tulfo’s office.
“There was a problem with the terrace in Senator Erwin’s office … it would get flooded every time it rained. I was referred by his staff member to check on it and come up with a solution,” Jose said in Filipino.
Contract terminated
Tulfo, for his part, said he only learned about WJ Construction through his staff member, who recommended the firm to “fix” his office veranda in the Senate.
“Upon learning her name was mentioned by Engineer Brice, we immediately requested to cancel all contracts with WJ […] I specifically asked to terminate our office refurbishment project with WJ,” Tulfo said.
“That was Sept. 9. And on Sept. 11, I issued another memo asking for an incident report [from] all concerned employees, specifically the friend of WJ Construction, Mina Jose,” he added.
Tulfo said he approved on Sept. 18 an internal policy temporarily prohibiting office visits due to the incident.
The senator said he was willing to submit all related documents, including the drawing submitted by Jose for the refurbishment of his veranda on the fifth floor.
