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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider 'Ba't ako nadamay?': Robin Padilla shares Bong Go's initial reaction to ICC drug war-tagging

'Ba't ako nadamay?': Robin Padilla shares Bong Go's initial reaction to ICC drug war-tagging

Published Feb 14, 2026 03:31 pm

At A Glance

  • In a brief exchange with Senator Robinhood Padilla, Senator Christopher "Bong" Go, a longtime aide and close political ally of Duterte, questioned his inclusion in the case, saying: "Bakit ako naidamay dito? (Why was I dragged into this?)."
Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go questioned his inclusion by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on the list of eight alleged indirect co-perpetrators in the crimes against humanity case linked to former president Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs.

Senator Christopher
Senator Christopher "Bong" Go (Senate PRIB photo)
In a brief exchange with Senator Robinhood "Robin" Padilla, Go, a longtime aide and close political ally of Duterte, reportedly said of the development: “Bakit ako naidamay dito? (Why was I dragged into this?)”
Padilla shared the particular conversation in an interview Saturday, Feb. 14, aver at Usapang Senado on DWIZ. According to him, he immediately called Go, who then gave him the short reaction.
ICC prosecutors identified eight individuals as alleged indirect co-perpetrators of Duterte, namely Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, former police chiefs Vicente Danao, the late Camilo Cascolan, and Oscar Albayalde, Senator Go, former National Bureau of Investigation chief Dante Gierran, former Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency chief Isidro Lapeña, and former justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II.
The ICC has been investigating alleged crimes against humanity during Duterte’s anti-drug campaign, which drew international scrutiny over reports of thousands of killings during police operations.
Meanwhile, Dela Rosa, who has been in hiding and not shown up at the Senate since November, has yet to issue a statement on the matter.
Padilla, also a known Duterte ally like Go and Dela Rosa, said that this development brought him to tears and that he felt depressed because of this.
"Naiyak po talaga ako, kasi papaano na ito, sino pang kasama ko sa Senado kapag itong dalawang to nabigyan pa ng warrant of arrest edi ako na lang mag-isa (I really cried, because what will happen now? Who will be left with me in the Senate if these two are issued warrants of arrest? I’ll be all alone)," he said.
"Hindi po ba depressing yun? (Isn't that depressing?)" he added.
Padilla bared that he had already reached out to Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano, who will immediately call for a meeting among them to discuss the matter.
Meanwhile, Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo "Ping" Lacson said that this development was saddening, considering that it involved two of their senator-colleagues.
In case there will be a warrant of arrest issued against the two, Lacson said that it will be up to the executive branch if they would do the same thing as with Duterte.
"Call na iyan ng executive branch, whether or not i-aadopt din nila yung parehong pagtrato sa dating pangulo na i-susurrender nila si Senator Bato at si Senator Bong Go (That’s a call for the executive branch, whether or not they will apply the same treatment to the former president and have Senators Bato and Bong Go surrender)," he said.

Related Tags

International Criminal Court Bong Go Bato Dela Rosa Rodrigo Duterte
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