Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte Threatens to Have President Marcos and Allies Killed If She Is Assassinated

Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte shocked the nation on Saturday by publicly declaring that she had contracted an assassin to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., his wife Liza Araneta-Marcos, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez if she were dead.

The vice president emphasised that her statement was severe and not a joke, adding to the intensity of an already fraught political climate.

In response to the public threat, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin referred the matter to an elite presidential guards force, ordering “immediate proper action.” The nature of the actions to be taken against the vice president has yet to be disclosed.

Meanwhile, the Presidential Security Command boosted security for President Marcos, citing the threat as a national security issue. The security force also coordinated with law enforcement to detect, deter, and defend against threats to the president and his family.

Security was immediately boosted for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. REUTERS.

Marcos and Duterte ran together on a national unity platform in the 2022 elections, winning with landslide support. However, their relationship has soured in the months since, with the two leaders disagreeing on critical issues, including their respective approaches to China’s aggressive actions in the South China Sea.

In June, Duterte resigned from her position as education secretary and head of the anti-insurgency body, signalling growing tension within the government.

The vice president, known for her outspoken nature, has become a vocal critic of Marcos, his wife, and House Speaker Romualdez. She has accused them of corruption, incompetence, and politically persecuting the Duterte family and its supporters.

Her most recent outburst was triggered by the detention of her chief of staff, Zuleika Lopez, who was accused of obstructing a congressional investigation into alleged misuse of Duterte’s budget as vice president and education secretary. Lopez was later hospitalised after becoming ill, reportedly after hearing of plans to incarcerate her in a women’s prison temporarily.

During a pre-dawn online news conference, Duterte did not hold back in her criticism of Marcos, calling him incompetent and a liar. She also accused the president’s wife and Romualdez of similar wrongdoing.

When questioned about her safety, Duterte suggested that there was an unspecified plot against her life, adding that she had made arrangements for her assassin to target Marcos, his wife, and Romualdez if she were killed. “I’ve given my order, ‘If I die, don’t stop until you’ve killed them,'” she said, using the president’s initials, BBM, as she made the threat.

“I’ve given my order, ‘If I die, don’t stop until you’ve killed them,’” Duterte said. REUTERS

Under Philippine law, public threats of violence can lead to charges under the penal code, punishable by imprisonment and a fine.

As the political situation escalated, General Romeo Brawner, the chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, issued a statement calling for unity and calm. He emphasised that the military remains nonpartisan and committed to respecting the country’s democratic institutions. “We call for calm and resolve,” Brawner said. “We reiterate our need to stand together against those who will try to break our bonds as Filipinos.”

Sara Duterte, the daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte, is no stranger to controversy. Her father’s brutal anti-drug crackdown, which led to thousands of deaths, has drawn international condemnation and is under investigation by the International Criminal Court for potential crimes against humanity.

Although Rodrigo Duterte has denied authorising extrajudicial killings, he has made conflicting statements, including revealing in a Senate inquiry that he once maintained a “death squad” to eliminate criminals when he was mayor of Davao City.