Bong Go to critics of Duterte drug war: ‘Hindi ba kayo nakinabang?’

Senator Christopher “Bong” Go on Monday slammed the critics of former president Rodrigo Duterte after he was linked to the extrajudicial killings during his administration’s controversial campaign against illegal drugs.

“Anim na SONA (State of the Nation Address), tuwing binabanggit ni Pangulong Duterte ang war on drugs, nagpapalakpakan po ang lahat, standing ovation. Tapos bakit ngayon sinisisi? Bakit ngayon mag-isa na lang siya? Hindi ba kayo nakinabang?” he told reporters as reported by Mav Gonzales in 24 Oras.

(Whenever President Duterte mentioned the war on drugs in those six SONAs, everyone was praising him. There were standing ovations. But why are you blaming him now? Why does it seem that he is alone now? Didn’t you benefit from it?)

Go, who was a former aide to Duterte, made the statement after the House of Representatives looked into the past administration war on drugs which killed more than thousands of alleged drug suspects.

Retired police colonel Royina Garma earlier confirmed that the cash reward paid per killing in the Duterte administration's war on drugs ranged from P20,000 to P1 million.

But Go denied there was a reward system during the previous administration.

“Pero wala siyang sinabi na ‘patayin mo ‘to, patayin mo ‘yan.’ Wala pong reward system na umiiral sa kanyang opisina. Sinusuportahan niya po ang kapulisan, ung ano ang pwede niyang suporta para magampananan po nila ang kanilang tungkulin,” he reiterated.

(He never said ‘kill this person, kill that person.’ There was no reward system during his time. He was supportive of the police and did everything he could so they could perform their jobs.)

Earlier, Garma said that Go talked to former presidential management staffer Irmina Espino, who was the one giving the reward money and also a former personnel under resigned NAPOLCOM commissioner Edilberto Leonardo.

Go refuted Garma’s claim.

“Hindi po totoo ‘yan. Sabi ko nga walang reward system. At kung sakali mang may iuutos siya sa akin na iligal, hindi ko po susundin. Hindi rin po ako papayag na utusan ako ng iligal at hindi rin ako papayag na may reward system,” he said.

(That’s not true. Again, there was no reward system. If ever he orders me to do something illegal, I will not do that. I will not allow anyone to ask me to do something illegal and I will not allow that there will be a reward system.)

Go’s colleague Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, who was the Philippine National Police chief during the Duterte administration during the beginning of the so-called war on drugs, was also implicated by Garma in the diagram she presented before the House Quad Committee.

Dela Rosa also denied having knowledge on the reward system during the drug war.
—Vince Angelo Ferreras/RF, GMA Integrated News