If  President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is sincere in his efforts to reconcile with the Dutertes, he should first bring former president Rodrigo Duterte back home from the Hague in the Netherlands where he is currently detained at the International Criminal Court (ICC).  

Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go, former presidential assistant of the former president, laid out this condition when asked about the President Marcos' call.

“Importante dito yung sinseridad ng bawat isa. Kung gusto niyo po ng reconciliation, pabalikin niyo muna si Tatay Digong (What is important here is the sincerity of each person. If you really want reconciliation, bring Tatay Digong home first),” Go said during an ambush interview. 

“Kung sakali mang meron pag-uusap (Should there be talks), and we cannot speak in behalf of the family, but if there is, my personal opinion is that sincerity is very important here. Dapat dito sincere ka sa pag uusap (they should be sincere during the talks),” he said. 

“At unang hakbang diyan ay pauwiin si Tatay Digong. Kung kaya niyo pong ipadala sa loob ng labing apat na oras si Tatay Digong alam kong kaya niyo rin pong pabalik dito sa lalong mabilis na panahon (And the first step to do is to bring him home. If you were able to send him out of the country in 14 hours, you can also bring him back here at the soonest possible time),” he added. 

In the first place, Go said it is the elder Duterte whom the Marcos administration should be talking to, and not Vice President Sara Duterte or other members of their family. 

“Siya naman po muna ang dapat kausapin. Siya yung elder Duterte. Siya yung nag se serbisyo sa ating mga kababayan. Ginawa niya po ang lahat ng sakripisyo ngunit pinadala siya dun sa Hague (He is the one they should talk to. He’s the elder Duterte. He was the one who served our people. He made all the sacrifices and yet you sent him to the Hague),” he lamented. 

“Kaya po patuloy akong nananawagan, nakikiusap na ipagdasal po natin ang kanyang kalusugan ang kanyang kaligtasan, ang kanyang kalayaan (That’s why I continue to call and ask for prayers, for his health, his safety and his freedom),” he said. 

Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa also expressed doubts over the sincerity of the Marcos administration’s call for reconciliation. 

“Wala naman sigurong gustong mag away, lahat naman tayo ay gustong tumahimik tayo at mabuhay ng matiwasay at makapokus sa kabutihan ng ating bansa pero sa lalim ng sugat na in-inflict nila sa amin kailangan talaga ng extreme sincerity hindi ung pahapyaw dahil meron na akong experience sa kanya at kayo mismno nakawitness (No one wants to fight, we all want to be quiet and live peacefully and focus on the good of our country, but given the depth of the wound they inflicted on us, extreme sincerity is needed, not superficiality, because I have had experience with him and you yourselves have witnessed it),” Dela Rosa told reporters in a separate interview. 

As far as he is concerned, Dela Rosa said he cannot decipher the President’s intention nor feel he is sincere about his statements.

“Because, based on my experience with him, he said different things and did different things, it's hard for me to say if he's sincere or not,” he pointed out.

“Hindi naman yan mapapatunayan sa salita, sa gawa yan (You can’t prove your sincereity through words, but through actions),” the former top cop stressed.