Philippine VP says she hired assassin to kill president if she is killed

The Philippine vice-president says she hired an assassin to kill the president, his family and the house speaker if she is killed.

The vice-president of the Philippines said she instructed an assassin to kill the president if she were killed.

In a dramatic sign of a widening rift between the two most powerful political families in the Southeast Asian nation, Vice-President Sara Duterte told press conference that she had spoken to an assassin and instructed him to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, his wife and the Speaker of the Philippine House if she were to be 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 in the profanity-laden briefing. “I said, do not stop until you kill them, and then he said yes.”

Security agencies stepped up safety protocols in response.

She was responding to an online commenter urging her to stay safe, saying she was in enemy territory as she was at the lower chamber of Congress overnight with her chief of staff. Duterte did not cite any alleged threat against herself.

The Presidential Security Command said it had heightened and strengthened security protocols. “We are also closely coordinating with law enforcement agencies to detect, deter, and defend against any and all threats to the president and the first family,” it said in a statement.

Police Chief Rommel Francisco Marbil said he had ordered an immediate investigation, adding that “any direct or indirect threat to his life must be addressed with the highest level of urgency.”

The Presidential Communications Office said any threat to the life of the President must always be taken seriously.