Bong Go

Bong Go is a senator in the 19th Congress, serving his first term since 2019.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in marketing from Ateneo de Davao University.

Go is known as the executive assistant of Rodrigo Duterte, having served the former president since 1998, when Duterte was still the representative of the 1st District of Davao City. Go became special assistant to the president in 2016, after Duterte rose to the presidency.

Go won a Senate seat in 2019, ranking third place in a race won by mostly Duterte allies. But even as senator, Go did not stop being Duterte’s constant companion in the last years of his presidency. The former president even mentioned Go and his pet bills during his 2019 State of the Nation Address – Go’s first SONA as senator.

Before his Senate stint, a Rappler investigation found Go to have intervened in the multibillion-peso project to acquire two brand new frigates or warships for the Philippine Navy. He denied intervening in the project, which became a subject of congressional hearings in 2018.

In 2021, or just over two years after he was elected, the neophyte senator filed to run as vice president. He withdrew that candidacy when Duterte’s daughter Sara announced she was running for vice president. Go would file to run for president, only to announce his withdrawal from the race a few weeks after.

Go was author of several laws that Duterte signed into law, including the Malasakit Center Act and the Department of Migrant Workers Act. He currently chairs the committees on sports and health and demography.