MARCH 2026

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Guest Editorial 

Inquirer News Services

MALACANANG has struck the right tone in urging Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa and Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go to face the charges looming against them at the International Criminal Court (ICC), and not try to hide once the arrest warrants are out for them.

“If they know they are innocent … they should face the matter and be courageous in going through the necessary processes,” said Palace press officer Claire Castro in a briefing.

While no warrants of arrest have yet been received by the Philippine government, Go and Dela Rosa have been officially named as coperpetrators, along with six others, in the crime against humanity case for murder filed against former President Rodrigo Duterte at the ICC.

Their names appear in the lesser redacted version of the document containing charges submitted by the ICC Office of the Prosecutor. In that document, the prosecution alleges that Duterte and his coperpetrators shared a “common plan” to “neutralize” alleged criminals in the country, particularly those they suspected of involvement in illegal drugs, by killing them. The murders covered by the charge sheet happened from 2011 to 2019, during Duterte’s term as Davao City mayor until the first three years of his presidency.

‘Oplan Tokhang’

Dela Rosa, the former director of the Davao City police and eventually Duterte’s first chief of police, was the main enforcer of Duterte’s flagship domestic policy—dubbed “Oplan Tokhang” or the war against drugs—that saw more than 6,000 alleged suspects killed through summary executions by police. Human rights watchdogs and independent observers believe the death toll could be as high as 30,000.

In March 2025, he had boldly declared that he was “ready to join the old man” in The Hague, referring to Duterte, and that he hoped the ICC “would allow me to take care of him.”

But that bravado is apparently gone. Dela Rosa has not been seen in the Senate since November last year, even as he continues to draw a salary and his office remains funded.

Go, who served as Duterte’s personal aide and eventually his presidential special assistant, was an inseparable presence from his boss, acting as Duterte’s steadfast gatekeeper, the “little President” through whom everything meant for Duterte first passed. In May 2019, at the height of the drug war that was by then already drawing international scrutiny and condemnation, Go said he was ready to accompany Duterte even to prison.

Duterte’s shadow

“President Duterte said he is ready to go to jail. I told him, I will go with him to jail. That is how much I love the president,” he declared.

Like Dela Rosa, however, Go now seems reluctant to fulfill his promise. His reaction to the ICC charges was to plead ignorance—that he knew nothing, and had nothing to do, with the bloodshed Duterte had unleashed on the nation.

The man who was practically Duterte’s shadow described the charges against him as “entirely unfounded, one-sided, unfair,” and that “at no time did I have any involvement in, knowledge of, or authority over these allegations.”

Go’s protestations of innocence will go up against the testimony of, among others, Royina Garma, the former police officer and state lottery chief who testified before the House that a quota and reward system existed for “tokhang,” and that the system and money dole outs were handled by Go.

According to Garma, the “Davao model” implemented nationwide saw police officers receiving rewards ranging from P20,000 to P1 million for killing drug suspects. She relayed reports of such killings to Go, who then disbursed the reward money.

Moment of reckoning

Go will even have to contradict himself. In September 2019, in a TV interview, he casually mentioned that Duterte was promising a reward of P1 million for the killing of a “ninja cop” (a policeman reselling drugs), and P500,000 if the suspect cop was captured alive. The implication was chillingly clear: Under Duterte, killing was the preferred and more lucrative way to address crime.

Since Malacañang insists that Go and Dela Rosa have to resolutely face the charges against them, it must likewise hold itself to the same standard by strictly enforcing the law in this matter: It must promptly implement the arrest warrants once these are out, and deliver Go and Dela Rosa to the ICC to face accountability for their participation in Duterte’s crimes.

Should they still be made to pass through a Philippine court? For law dean Mel Sta. Maria, “it is no longer needed,” because “the Constitution, the law, and jurisprudence allow the arrest,” stressing “Let us choose justice over technicalities.”

Likewise, the Senate should rise over partisan and vested interests and not stand in the way of Go and Dela Rosa facing their day in the international court against impunity.

Justice is about to catch up with Go and Dela Rosa. The Marcos administration should ensure they will be present where they need to be for that instructive moment of reckoning.