Hiningan ng reaksiyon si Maricel Tulfo-Tungol sa pagbansag ng ibang netizens na "nepo babies" sa mga anak ng pulitiko gaya niya.
Si Maricel ay anak ni Senator Raffy Tulfo at ni ACT-SIS Partylist Representative Jocelyn Tulfo.
Tumatayong rin siyang representative ng kanyang ina sa Senate Spouses Foundation Inc., kung saan siya ang treasurer para sa mga taong 2025-2026.
Nakapanayam ng PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal) ang 33-year-old vlogger sa opening ng Owen men's clinic sa Quezon City, noong February 8, 2026.
Dito niya sinabi ang pagsisikap na makagawa ng sariling pangalan lalo pa't madalas daw siyang tawagin bilang "anak ni Sen. Raffy."
Bungad niya: "Yes, from the start I told my dad, 'Pa, I don't want to be labeled lang as anak ng senator lang.'
"That's why I started vlogging, and now I'm known as the Hakot Queen because of Hakot Challenge nga."
Lumilibot sa iba-ibang lugar sa Pilipinas si Maricel para pumili ng beneficiaries na maghahakot ng grocery items mula sa supermarkets.
Samntala, bukod sa apelyido, may mga pumapansin din sa lifestyle niya.
Sa tingin ni Maricel ay wala siyang dapat ipaliwanag tungkol dito: "Even before, I really like to shop, I really like fashion...that's my stress outlet.
"Like I've said, I don't need to explain to people why I buy it, kung kasya ba iyan, because even [if] they check few years back and even long, long time ago, I already buy things."
MARICEL TULFO-TUNGOL ON BEING HAKOT QUEEN
Si Maricel ay may 2.7M followers sa Facebook at 770,000 subscribers sa YouTube.
Sumisikat daw ang kanyang "Hakot Challenge" kaya unti-unti ay nakikilala siya ng mga tao hindi lamang dahil sa kanyang apelyido.
"Of course, may mga iba na, siyempre, di naman maaalis na, 'Ah, anak ni Sen. Raffy iyan.'
"But, you know, they know me more as, 'When is the next hakot challenge? Saan yung susunod na destination?'
"Ever since I started, it was actually accidental na mabuo yung hakot challenge idea."
Ayon pa kay Maricel, suportado ng senador ang kanyang vlogging.
Marami sa recent episodes ay nag-shout-out si Maricel na ang mga groceries na pinamigay ay mula sa "tulong" ng kanyang mga magulang na sina Raffy at Josephine.
"I think my dad was shocked also na a lot his friends know the hakot challenge. A lot of them are inviting me to do the hakot challenge.
"It also makes him proud. Before kasi, 'Nanonood ako ng show mo, Wanted sa Radyo.' Now, 'I also watch your daughter.'
"He feels really proud so he supports now some of the hakot challenge. Now yung 14 days na sunud-sunod, he really wanted that.
"When we were in the U.S. and we were talking about it, he said he will really support it always. Ako na yung tumigil."
Hindi malinaw kung may iba pang pinagkakaabalahan si Maricel na malayo sa mundong ginagalawan ng ama.
Kahit sa kanyang social media platforms ay hindi maiiwasang makunekta siya sa senador dahil gamit niya ang apelyidong Tulfo sa kanyang accounts.
Gamit din niya sa hashtags ang #MaricelTulfo, #RaffyTulfoInAction, #Tulfo, at #TeamTulfo.
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on SENATOR RAFFY TULFO AS A DAD
Kumusta si Sen. Raffy bilang ama?
Sagot ni Maricel: "Senator Raffy is a good dad. Of course, he's really busy, everyone else in the family. Of course, my mom is also in the politics, my brother as well.
"So that's why, we do our annual vacation, we go to the U.S., yun na ang pinaka-bonding namin."
Pagpapatuloy niya: "As a father, regardless of what I am doing, what my brother is doing, what my mom's doing, he's really supportive of everything.
"In Senate Spouses, 'Papa, pupunta ako sa ganito, and we need donation.' He's open to what I'm gonna decide because I'm the one who goes to Senate Spouses.
"Very supportive siya, even to my brother, to my mom.
"Dahil busy kaming lahat, we don't see each other normally here in Manila, but very supportive sila."
So Maricel at ang asawang si Atty. Garrett TUngol ay may isang anak.
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ON SENATE SPOUSES GROUP
Samantala, hindi raw apektado ang mga miyembro ng Senate Spouses Group kung mayroon mang isyu ang mga senador.
Paliwanag niya: "Not naman kasi. [the] Senate spouses' goal is to really help the livelihood and everyone else and not just the women but also the families.
"Walang nagbago. It's just, of course, the [senate] president changes, but everything else is just the same.
"We don't really talk about, 'Ay, may issue ngayon si Senator ganito, or baka hiwalay na sila ni ganun.' We don't talk about it.
"We really focus on ano na ang plano natin the next few months? The next week?
"Kasi we plan to at least be active at least twice a month. May activity ang Senate Spouses as much as we can."
Hindi raw porke may di pagkakaunawaan ang mga senador ay dawit din ang mga asawa at anak nila.
"People comment na, 'A, baka may issue.' Like for example my father and the father of one of the spouses, hindi kami nag-aaway or nagtatalo pag nagkikita kami.
"Kasi we're outside of that issue and we're not part of it, so we don't want to meddle with it."
Si Heart ang dating presidente ng Senate Spouses Foundation Inc. noong senate president ang asawa nitong si Senator Chiz Escudero mula May 2024-September 7, 2025.
Pumalit na president si Helen Gamboa nang maging senate president si Senator Tito Sotto mula noong September 8, 2025 hanggang sa kasalukuyan.
Wala raw nabago sa samahan kahit nagbago ang pamunuan.
Ayon kay Maricel patungkol kay Heart: "We're still okay. We still message from time to time, and even the other spouses naman...
"We do have a group chat, the Senate Spouses. Lahat naman pag ka may birthday, nagbabatian kami sa group chat."
ON DAD AND UNCLES
Hiningan din si Maricel ng reaksiyon tungkol sa alitan ng kanyang ama at mga uncle na sina Ben Tulfo at Mon Tulfo.
Sabi ni Maricel: "We don't really meddle with our personal issues, even my dad and his brothers. We let him decide on what he wants to do. If he wants to stay silent, we just support him on what he wants.
"And even my other titos, we don't really touch it cause it's a family matter.
"We're family, yes, but [there are] some things I think they can handle on their own.
"Well me, I don't really have something [to do] with it, so, we just let our uncles and, of course, my dad do their own thing."