Philippines boosts security after VP's assassination threat against president

MANILA — Philippine security agencies stepped up safety protocols on Saturday (Nov 23) after Vice President Sara Duterte said she would have President Ferdinand Marcos Jr assassinated if she herself were killed.

In a dramatic sign of a widening rift between the two most powerful political families in the Southeast Asian nation, Duterte told an early morning press conference that she had spoken to an assassin and instructed him to kill Marcos, 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."

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.

However, Duterte told reporters on Saturday afternoon: "Thinking and talking about it is different from actually doing it," adding there