Philippine Vice-President Sara Duterte claimed she had communicated with an assassin and directed them to eliminate President Marcos, his wife, and the speaker of the Philippine House if she were to be assassinated. — Reuters file
The Philippines' security council will investigate an alleged assassination threat made by Vice President Sara Duterte against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., according to a senior official on Sunday, who described it as a 'matter of national security'. Duterte, in a forceful morning briefing on Saturday, stated she had spoken with an assassin and instructed them to kill Marcos, his wife, and the speaker of the Philippine House if she were to be killed. National Security Adviser Eduardo Ano said the government views all threats to the president as 'serious', pledging to closely collaborate with law enforcement and intelligence agencies to investigate the threat and potential culprits.
'Any and all threats against the life of the president shall be validated and considered a matter of national security,' Ano said in a statement. The Presidential Communications Office, citing the justice ministry, said Duterte's threats are now under investigation and could result in charges.
'If the evidence warrants, this could lead to eventual prosecution,' Marcos' office said in a statement. Duterte's threat arose from an order by lawmakers to transfer her chief-of-staff to a jail for allegedly obstructing its investigation into the vice-president's alleged misuse of public funds. In response to Duterte's threat, Marcos' presidential security command said it had reinforced its protocols in protecting the Philippine leader, and the national police chief had ordered an investigation.
Duterte, the daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte, and Marcos were once political allies who won a landslide victory to lead the nation's top two offices in 2022. Their alliance fractured this year over policy disagreements, including foreign policy and the elder Duterte's lethal war on drugs. Marcos' congressional allies are separately examining Rodrigo Duterte's campaign that resulted in over 6,000 deaths in anti-drug operations and alleged corruption over Sara Duterte's use of public funds during her tenure as education secretary. Both have denied any wrongdoing. Duterte resigned from her Cabinet post in June.
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