Senator Christopher “Bong” Go on Saturday rejected accusations linking him to former President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-illegal drugs campaign, after the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecution document listed him among alleged co-perpetrators in the case filed against Duterte.
Go, who served as Duterte’s longtime aide before entering the Senate, said the allegations being circulated are “entirely unfounded, one-sided and unfair.”
“It bear no relation to the reality of my roles and responsibilities during my service as Special Assistant to the President from June 2016 to October 2018 as well as Executive Assistant to the Mayor of Davao City from 1998 to 2016,” Go said in a statement released Saturday.
“Let me be clear, at no time did I have any involvement in, knowledge of, or authority over these allegations. It is also inaccurate to claim that I was Chief of the Presidential Management Staff then since at no point in time did that responsibility fall under mine,” he added.
Go’s name appeared alongside several other former government officials in ICC documents connected to the prosecution’s case against Duterte, who is facing allegations over killings tied to the drug war.
Also named in the same document were Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, former Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, former Philippine National Police chief Oscar Albayalde, and other individuals identified in relation to the ICC’s investigation.
Go insisted that his actions in government were within legal and moral bounds, saying, “Alam ng aking mga kababayan na ginawa ko lang ang aking trabaho na naaayon sa batas ng tao at batas ng Diyos upang matulungan ang aking mga kapwa Pilipino, lalo na ang mga mahihirap at walang ibang malalapitan kundi ang gobyerno.”
The senator has previously dismissed claims that the Duterte administration used a “reward system” in its anti-drug campaign, while also maintaining that he played no part in the operations connected to the controversial crackdown.
However, retired police colonel Royina Garma has publicly accused Duterte and Go of involvement in a cash incentive system allegedly tied to extrajudicial killings of drug suspects. Another former police official associated with anti-narcotics operations also said there was a “quota and rewards system” implemented during the campaign.
In an affidavit submitted to the House Quad Committee, Garma detailed allegations that Duterte and Go were involved in overseeing and coordinating reward arrangements for police officers involved in killings during anti-drug operations.
Duterte was arrested on March 11, 2025 upon his arrival from Hong Kong, following an ICC request related to its investigation into the drug war conducted during his presidency. The ICC arrest warrant claimed Duterte, while in office, allegedly created, financed, and armed death squads that carried out killings of suspected drug users and dealers.
He was flown to The Hague in the Netherlands on the same day he was taken into custody.
Duterte later appeared before ICC judges via video link on March 14.
His confirmation of charges hearing, originally scheduled for September 23, was postponed after his legal team requested more time. The ICC Pre-Trial Chamber has since denied the defense’s petition for Duterte’s interim release.
The ICC has set the confirmation of charges hearing from February 23 to 27, 2026, in The Hague, Netherlands.
