Why the Philippines’ Vice President Talked About Beheading Her Boss

Sara Duterte was fed up.

The vice president of the Philippines was facing accusations of corruption in Congress, which she saw as the latest political attack orchestrated by her boss, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. So she called a news conference on Friday.

Ms. Duterte rambled for two hours, hurling invectives at Mr. Marcos. She said she “wanted to cut his head off” after realizing their relationship had turned toxic. At another point, she invoked his father, the longtime dictator, saying she had warned his sister, Senator Imee Marcos: “If the attacks don’t stop, I will really dig up your father’s body and throw it in the West Philippine Sea.”

Mr. Marcos has said little about his falling out with Ms. Duterte, who resigned from his cabinet in June. Earlier this month, he laughed as he told reporters he did not know what his relationship with the vice president was anymore. His spokesman, Cesar Chavez, said the president would not respond to Ms. Duterte’s latest comments.

The two had promised national unity when they were elected in 2022. Ms. Duterte, daughter of the outgoing president, Rodrigo Duterte, had become the running mate of a fellow scion. The alliance of their notorious political dynasties was supposed to be formidable: The Dutertes’ stronghold is in the south of the Philippines and the Marcoses hold sway in the north.

But it was a marriage of convenience, and its rupture has been spectacular.

Undergirding the split are different views about what the United States and China mean for the Philippines. Mr. Marcos, who spent about five years in Hawaii after his father was ousted and who studied at the Wharton School of Business, sees the United States as a reliable ally that can help him counter China’s