Philippines Vice President Publicly Threatens Nation’s President With Assassination

In a public statement on Saturday, Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte said she had hired an assassin to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., his wife Liza Araneta-Marcos, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez if she were to be assassinated. She insisted the warning was “not a joke.”

This was deemed a “active threat” by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who promptly forwarded the issue to the Presidential Security Group (PSG), an elite group, for immediate action. The precise actions that could be taken against the vice president in reaction to her comments are still unknown, though.

The Presidential Security Command stressed that the vice president’s publicly stated threat constituted a major national security issue and tightened security measures for President Marcos. To “detect, deter, and neutralize” possible threats against the president and the First Family, the PSG said it was actively working with law enforcement.

Campaigning on a platform of national unity, Marcos and Duterte won resounding victories as running mates in the May 2022 elections. Significant policy differences, especially regarding how to respond to China’s assertive actions in the disputed South China Sea, have since caused their relationship to deteriorate. Duterte left the Marcos administration’s inner circle in June when she resigned as chair of an anti-insurgency council and as secretary of education.

In keeping with her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, who was a vocal critic, the vice president has accused Marcos, his wife, and Romualdez of corruption, incompetence, and political targeting of the Duterte family and their supporters.

Her most recent outburst was in response to her chief of staff, Zuleika Lopez, being detained by Romualdez and Marcos’ House allies. Lopez was charged with blocking a congressional investigation into purported budget mismanagement during Duterte’s time as education secretary and vice president. Lopez was taken to a hospital after becoming ill, and it was said that she lost it when she learned that she would be placed in a women’s detention center for a short time.

Duterte attacked Marcos, his wife, and Romualdez in a profanity-filled early-morning press conference, calling them dishonest and incompetent. In response to inquiries regarding her personal safety, the 46-year-old attorney asserted that there was a conspiracy to kill her, saying, “Don’t worry about my security.” I’ve already had a conversation. “Make sure you kill BBM, Liza Araneta, and Martin Romualdez if I’m killed,” I said. This is serious business. She restated her directives, noting that the person had consented to follow them.

Such remarks may be considered threats against a person or their family under Philippine law, which carries penalties like jail time and fines.

In a statement, military chief General Romeo Brawner urged unity amid rising political tensions and reassured the public that the Armed Forces of the Philippines, which number 160,000, would continue to be apolitical and uphold democratic values. “We demand peace and unity,” Brawner stated, stressing the significance of maintaining national unity.

The daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte, Sara Duterte, has often been in the news for her aggressive speech. Both as president and as mayor of Davao City, her father’s divisive anti-drug campaign claimed thousands of lives and was viewed by the International Criminal Court as possibly a crime against humanity. Although the elder Duterte has denied approving extrajudicial executions, he has made contradictory claims, such as acknowledging in a Senate hearing that he kept a death squad to kill criminals while he was mayor.