The International Criminal Court (ICC) has named Senators Christopher “Bong” Go and Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa as well as other former ranking government officials as co-perpetrators of ex-President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody “war on drugs.” Go ranked first and Dela Rosa third in the midterm senatorial elections last year.
As chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) from July 2016 to April 2018, Dela Rosa was the main implementor of Duterte’s anti-narcotics campaign. He also served as chief of the Davao City Police from January 2012 to October 2013.
Go was a longtime aide to Duterte when he was mayor of Davao City and took the role of special assistant from June 2016 to October 2018 during his presidency.
The others named by the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) as part of the “hierarchy” of Duterte’s drug war are: former PNP chief Camilo Cascolan (now deceased), former PNP chief Oscar Albayalde, former Davao City police chief Vicente Danao, former justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, former National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) chief Dante Gierran, and former Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency chief Isidro Lapeña.
Gierran also served as NBI regional director of Davao from 2013 to 2016. Lapeña was chief of the Davao City Police from 1996 to 1998.
There are other ranking government officials including from the PNP on the list, but the OTP did not name them.
‘Common plan’
“At least between 1 November 2011 and 16 March 2019, DUTERTE and his co-perpetrators shared a common plan or agreement to ‘neutralise’ alleged criminals in the Philippines (including those perceived or alleged to be associated with drug use, sale or production) through violent crimes including murder,” the OTP said in a document made public on Feb. 14, a “lesser redacted” version of its preconfirmation brief on July 24, 2025.
The document also stated that during Duterte’s term as mayor, he, together with Go and other officials mentioned, “used police from Davao City and non-police hitmen” such as the Davao Death Squad to kill alleged criminals.
“In their new geographically expanded roles, the co-perpetrators controlled the will of the physical perpetrators through a mechanism that ensured their automatic compliance with their orders,” the document read.
In a Facebook post, human rights lawyer and ICC assistant to counsel Kristina Conti said the inclusion of Dela Rosa, Go, and former officials close to Duterte showed that “the plan was crafted not only to ensure implementation, but to ensure impunity.”
“The involvement of those in the investigating units, which should have acted as the killings happened, is material to the plan. This also emphasizes that the ‘war on drugs’ began in Davao,” Conti said.
Out of the public eye
In March 2025, shortly after Duterte was arrested on charges of crimes against humanity and taken into ICC custody, Dela Rosa said he was “ready to join” and “take care” of the ex-president in The Hague in the Netherlands.
But Dela Rosa has not been reporting for work at the Senate and has been out of the public eye since November, when Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla made a yet unproven statement that a warrant for his arrest had been issued by the ICC. Dela Rosa has yet to make a public statement on the latest development.
Go issued a statement on Saturday, saying: “I dispute these allegations, which are entirely unfounded, one-sided, unfair, and 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.”
According to Go, he has upheld the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and dedication for the people throughout his career in public service.
“I will not allow these baseless accusations to distract me from my responsibilities as a duly elected Senator of the Republic. My focus remains steadfastly on serving the Filipino people—particularly the poor and vulnerable,” he said.
Former justice secretary Aguirre also denied involvement in the extrajudicial killings in Duterte’s drug war on Saturday. The other named co-perpetrators have yet to issue a statement as of this writing.
In March 2025, ex-PNP chief Albayalde said he was preparing for a possible warrant of arrest from the ICC and would exhaust all legal remedies.
‘Completely lacking in truth’
In a statement on Saturday, Duterte’s lead legal counsel Nicholas Kaufman said “the Prosecution has now revealed the names of what it alleges to be criminal co-perpetrators—something that we will prove to be completely lacking in truth.”
“None of these co-perpetrators are, in my opinion, currently subject to arrest warrants,” he said.
Duterte has been deemed fit to stand trial at the ICC and is expected to appear at the confirmation of charges hearing scheduled to begin on Feb. 23. CS
