Philippines: Vice President orders assassination of president

At a press conference on November 23, Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte said she had spoken to an assassin and instructed him to kill President Marcos, his wife and the speaker of the Philippine House of Representatives, if she was murdered.

According to Reuters, this is a notable sign of the growing rift between the two most powerful political families - Duterte and Marcos - in this Southeast Asian country.

"I talked to one (assassin). I said if I am murdered, go kill Mr. Marcos, (first lady) Liza Araneta and (House Speaker) Martin Romualdez. No kidding!" - Ms. Sara Duterte said.

"I said don't stop until you kill them. Then he agreed," the Philippine vice president recalled.

She responded after a netizen reminded her to stay safe, saying she was in “enemy territory” while at the Philippine House of Representatives with her chief of staff. Sara Duterte did not elaborate on what the threat was.

The Philippine Presidential Communications Office issued a statement in response: "Based on the vice president's explicit statement that she has hired a hitman to kill the president if the plot against her succeeds, the executive secretary has forwarded this threat to the Presidential Security Command for immediate appropriate action."

"Any threat to the life of the President of the Philippines must always be taken seriously, especially when the threat is clearly and convincingly publicized," the statement added.

Sara Duterte's office did not immediately comment on the statement from Marcos' office.

The Philippines vice president once said: "This country is going to hell because we are led by a man who doesn't know how to be a president and is a liar."

The Philippines is preparing for midterm elections in May 2025. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is consolidating his power and partly preparing for his successor, before his term ends in 2028, according to the law that each president only serves one term.

The political alliance between Ms. Sara Duterte (daughter of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte) and Mr. Marcos Jr. (son of late President Ferdinand Marcos) was established to win the 2022 election.

However, Ms. Duterte's resignation as education minister in June, along with recent attacks on the incumbent president, signaled a rift in this alliance.

The rift between the Philippines' two most powerful political families is becoming increasingly apparent, causing observers to worry that the story has gone too far as it has in the country and that it will not stop at the level of rumors.