In a brazen public threat that she warned was not a joke, Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte announced on Saturday that she has contracted an assassin to murder the president, his wife, and the House of Representatives speaker if she is killed.

The "active threat" against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was referred to an elite presidential guards force by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin for "immediate proper action," as The New York Post reported.

It was not immediately apparent what measures would be implemented against the vice president.

Threat Response

Marcos' security was enhanced by the Presidential Security Command, which deemed the vice president's threat, which was "made so brazenly in public," a national security issue.

According to the Presidential Security Force, it was "coordinating with law enforcement agencies to identify, prevent, and address any and all threats to the president and the first family."

Duterte, a lawyer, afterward attempted to retract her statements, asserting that they were not a genuine threat but rather an expression of apprehension regarding an unspecified threat to her life.

From The Attorney

“If I expressed the concern, they will say that’s a threat to the life of the president?” she said.

“Why would I kill him if not for revenge from the grave? There is no reason for me to kill him. What’s the benefit for me?” Duterte told journalists.

The Philippine penal code imposes a jail term and a fine for public remarks that may be considered a crime of threatening to perpetrate a wrong on an individual or their family.

According to the Philippine Constitution, the vice president assumes the role and serves the remainder of the term in the event that the president dies, is removed from office, suffers a permanent disability, or resigns.

The Pair's History

During the May 2022 elections, Marcos partnered with Duterte as his vice-presidential running mate. The two secured landslide victories on the basis of a campaign appeal for national unity.

The two leaders and their respective factions, however, rapidly deteriorated into a bitter feud over significant differences, such as their stances on China's aggressive actions in the disputed South China Sea.

The education secretary and chief of an anti-insurgency body in the Marcos Cabinet, Duterte, resigned in June.

Like her equally outspoken father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, the vice president became a vocal critic of Marcos, his wife Liza Araneta-Marcos, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez, the president's ally and cousin. She accused them of corruption, incompetence, and politically persecuting the Duterte family and its close supporters.