A video posted on YouTube is claiming that Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go has “suddenly resigned” from his position, citing the senator’s alleged ties to some of his family members’ construction businesses. This is false.
Go is still an active member of the 20th Congress and remains listed on the official website of the Senate. On Aug. 18, he was also named as one of the initial nine newly-elected members of the Commission on Appointments.
The spurious video, uploaded on Aug. 21, carried a title that read:
“BIGLANG RESIGN-SI SEN BONG GO SA SENADO NAGPAALAM NA UMALIS SA SENADO HINDE NA NAKAYANAN?
(Sen. Bong Go suddenly resigned from the Senate. He already bid farewell and left the Senate, could no longer handle it?)”
Go was present in the Aug. 20 plenary session where Sen. Panfilo Lacson delivered a privilege speech and presented findings on alleged irregularities related to flood control projects in the country.
The erroneous video merely featured a clip of Go’s manifestation during the said session, specifically, a copy posted by radio station DWAR Abante Radyo on Aug. 20.
In his manifestation, the lawmaker said insinuations that he was personally involved or had benefited from his family’s construction business were “old, recycled and malicious accusations.”
In 2018, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism reported on construction firms, CLTG Builders and Alfrego Builders and Supply, owned by Go’s father and half-brother, respectively. The investigative report revealed that these top contractors won a number of projects in Davao region from 2007 to 2017.
Go stressed in Filipino that “not once, not even a peso, has my family benefited from me being in government.” He explained that since working with Rodrigo Duterte, starting when Duterte was still Davao City mayor, he set a condition that “if any of my relatives tried to approach me for favors, I would resign from my post under him [Duterte].”
While the vlogger in the YouTube video cited these statements as a “receipt” to support the claim about Go’s resignation, the senator made no mention of stepping down from his Senate post under the current administration.
On Aug. 20, Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro said in a press briefing that the alleged links of the top 15 contractors – who received P100 billion, worth 20 percent of the budget of all flood control projects since 2022 – to lawmakers, including Go, will be investigated.
Data from the government’s sumbongsapangulo.ph website showed that Alfrego Builders and Supply had five flood control projects in Davao City totaling over P326 million from 2023 to 2024.
According to a report published by GMA Regional TV One Mindanao on Aug. 20, the Department of Public Works and Highways-Davao confirmed that these projects were completed on schedule and “had gone through the proper procurement process.” The same report noted, however, damage in some projects caused by floodwaters.
The video with inaccurate claim emerged a day after the Aug. 20 Senate session, where Lacson claimed that only 40% of flood control project funds in the country go to the actual construction.
Published by YouTube channel ANDYS VLOG OFFICIAL (created on Jan. 5, 2020), the false video has so far garnered 79,808 views, 3,900 reactions and 933 comments.
