Philippines Vice President Sara Duterte asserts she will ensure accountability for President Marcos if harm comes to her.
The president’s security has been strengthened following his deputy’s ‘active threat’, which was made so shamelessly in public’.
Security agencies in the Philippines have increased safety precautions after Vice President Sara Duterte vowed to assassinate President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. if she was dead.
Duterte, who was an ally of Marcos until recently, issued the warning on Saturday, as a schism between the country’s two most prominent political dynasties deepened.
“This country is going to hell because we are led by a person who doesn’t know how to be a president and is a liar,” she said in a profanity-laced briefing on her Facebook page.
“Do not worry about my safety. I told someone that if I am assassinated, they should kill BBM [Marcos], [First Lady] Liza Araneta, and [Speaker] Martin Romualdez. Not a joke. “Not a joke,” she said.
“I said, do not stop until you kill them and he said yes.”
Duterte issued the message in response to comments asking her to be safe while at the House of Representatives, where her chief of staff was held for failing to respond to inquiries about the suspected abuse of money at the vice president’s office.
The vice president did not mention any threats against her.
The presidential communications office claimed Duterte’s words were seen as a severe threat against Marcos.
“Acting on the vice president’s unambiguous and explicit declaration that she had contracted an assassin to kill the president if a supposed plan against her succeeds, the executive secretary has referred this active threat to the Presidential Security Command for immediate proper action,” according to a press release.
“Any menace to the life of the head of state must always be taken seriously, more so that this threat has been explicitly revealed in clear and unambiguous terms,” according to the statement.
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin reported the “active threat” on Marcos to an elite presidential guards group, which stated that Duterte’s warning, which was “made so brazenly in public,” constituted a national security concern.
Duterte is the daughter of Marcos’ predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, who is known for his vulgar language and a controversial drug campaign that is being investigated by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
After leaving her position as education secretary in the cabinet in June, she continued to serve as Marcos’ deputy, revealing a rift in their political alliance that helped them win a landslide victory in 2022.
Vice President Duterte told reporters in October that she occasionally fantasizes decapitating Marcos since their relationship has gotten so “toxic.”
She also acknowledged that after joining Marcos, she felt “used.”
She made a threat to remove the bones of Ferdinand Marcos Sr., Marcos’s father, from the national cemetery and dispose of them in the ocean.
The political split occurs prior to the May midterm elections, in which Filipinos will cast ballots for numerous local officials, half of the Senate, and a fresh speaker in the House of Representatives.
It will serve as both a gauge of Marcos’s level of support and a chance for him and his political supporters to solidify their hold on authority.
Despite her resignation from the government, Duterte is still the 67-year-old president’s lawful successor.
