Manila, Philippines

Sara Duterte, the Philippines’ vice-president, set the cat among the pigeons on Saturday (Nov 23) by openly admitting she was in contact with an assassin to get President Ferdinand Marcos Jr killed if she herself were assassinated. In the Southeast Asian nation, vice presidents and presidents are elected separately and the two high-profile posts are currently held by two rival political families.

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While addressing a press conference, Sara said she had instructed a killer to assassinate Marcos Jr, his wife and the speaker of the Philippine House of Representatives if she herself were killed.

“I have talked to a person. I said, if I get killed, go kill BBM [Marcos], [first lady] Liza Araneta and [speaker] Martin Romualdez. No joke. No joke,” Duterte said. “I said, do not stop until you kill them, and then he said yes.”

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The statement prompted an urgent response from the presidential office, which vowed “proper action.”

“Acting on the vice-president’s clear and unequivocal statement that she had contracted an assassin to kill the president if an alleged plot against her succeeds, the executive secretary has referred this active threat to the presidential security command for immediate proper action.”

“Any threat to the life of the president must always be taken seriously, more so that this threat has been publicly revealed in clear and certain terms,” the statement added.

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Watch: United States, Philippines Sign Military Intelligence-sharing Deal

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Duterte’s tirade against the president comes in a series of attacks that she has launched over the past months. In October, Duterte said she imagined cutting the president’s head off. The two families are at odds over differences on foreign policy as well as Sara’s father and former president Rodrigo Duterte’s deadly war on drugs, among others things.

In June, the political crisis deepened in the Philippines when Sara resigned from her cabinet posts but retained the vice-presidential chair, indicating that the political alliance between her and the president Marcos would come crashing down anytime now. The alliance struck in 2022 helped the two families secure victories.

Now, the Philippines is gearing up for mid-term elections in May and many are seeing them as a litmus test for Marcos’ popularity.

(With inputs from agencies)