MANILA - Broadcaster Raffy Tulfo on Monday said he was misunderstood by some supporters who unsubscribed from his YouTube channel for allegedly speaking out against President Duterte.

Tulfo, whose popular YouTube channel is watched by millions, recently gave his support for the reopening of ABS-CBN after the House of Representatives committee on legislative franchises rejected ABS-CBN's bid for a franchise renewal in July 2020.

• House committee denies ABS-CBN a new franchise

In his radio show, Tulfo said there could be a clash between the "16 million vs 42 million or 50 million", referring to the number of people who voted for Duterte in 2016 and the number of subscribers on ABS-CBN Entertainment's YouTube channel.

Speaking to ANC's Headstart, Tulfo said it is the right of his subscribers to unfollow him but noted that he was misunderstood.

He noted that he was merely giving his support to ABS-CBN after thousands of employees lost their jobs due to the franchise row.

"Na-misunderstood nila ako--36 million ng followers ng ABS-CBN Entertainment versus 16 million baka magkaclash pagdating ng time na idadaan sa referendum pagdating sa reopening ng ABS-CBN," he said.

Tulfo, who topped Pulse Asia's latest survey on the Filipinos' preferred senatorial candidates for the 2022 national elections, said he will support the reopening of ABS-CBN.

"Of course. Kasi why, I’m pro-manggagawa na naapi, nawalan ng trabaho. In this case I know mahigit 10,000 na empleyado ng ABS-CBN na nawalan ng trabaho because of that," he told ANC's Headstart when asked if he supports ABS-CBN's reopening.

(I'm pro-workers who are are at a disadvantage. In this case I know more than 10,000 employees of ABS-CBN lost their jobs because of that.)

"Ilan sa kanila ang may pinapagatas, may relatives na inaaalagaan...paano na yun, nai-stop yun lahat."

(How many of them have babies, relatives to take care of? That all stopped.)

In the interview, Tulfo said he would back the passage of a wage theft law that would punish employers who fail to follow the minimum wage law

"Pag ang DOLE labor code plus payslip di magkatugma, wage theft ka," he said.

(If the DOLE labor code and payslip does not match, they will face wage theft.)

Tulfo, a supporter of Duterte, said the latter might have been advised against signing the "endo" or end of contractualization bill.

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