Protesters hold placards during a demonstration to call for the start of the impeachment trial against Philippine Vice-President Sara Duterte and the arrest of Philippine Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa outside the Senate of the Philippines in Pasay, Metro Manila, on May 18, 2026.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Manila:

The Philippines justice department on Monday labelled Vice President Sara Duterte the “mastermind” of a plot to assassinate the country’s president, giving her five days to respond to a subpoena.

Duterte is being asked to explain herself in the wake of a blistering weekend press conference where she said she had instructed that President Ferdinand Marcos be killed should an alleged plot to kill her succeed.

“The government is taking action to protect our duly elected president,” Justice Undersecretary Jesse Andres said at a Monday press briefing.

“The premeditated plot to assassinate the president as declared by the self-confessed mastermind will now face legal consequences.”

Speaking to reporters an hour later, Duterte said she planned to respond to the subpoena.

“I will gladly answer the questions they want to ask, but they must answer my questions as well,” she said.

“We’ll just talk there when I get the subpoena.”

In his first public comments on the matter, Marcos earlier in the day vowed to “fight back” in the face of a threat he called “disturbing”.

The Marcos-Duterte alliance that swept to power in 2022 has collapsed spectacularly in the lead-up to next year’s mid-term elections, with both sides trading allegations of drug addiction.

Duterte, who is facing potential impeachment hearings, told reporters early Saturday that she herself was the subject of an assassination plot and had instructed that Marcos be killed should it succeed.

In the expletive-laced press conference, Duterte also singled out first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and presidential cousin Martin Romualdez as potential targets.

“I said, if I die, don’t stop until you have killed them,” she claimed to have told a security team member regarding the trio.

Hours later, the presidential palace said it was treating the comments as an “active threat”.

“That sort of criminal attempt must not go unchallenged,” Marcos said Monday. “As a democratic country, we need to uphold the law.”

“The vice president is not immune from suit. She can be the subject of any criminal or administrative case,” Andres told reporters, adding the subpoena was in the process of being served.

He added that a manhunt was underway for the “assassin” allegedly engaged by Duterte.

Alliance unravelled

Duterte, daughter of former president Rodrigo Duterte, was Marcos’ running mate in the 2022 presidential election that saw their ticket win in a landslide.

She remains his constitutional successor should he be unable to finish his six-year term.

But she is currently facing an investigation in the House of Representatives, led by Romualdez.

Both Romualdez and Duterte are widely expected to run for president in 2028.

Duterte’s Saturday press briefing came shortly after House officials threatened to transfer her chief of staff Zuleika Lopez — being held for contempt — from the lower chamber’s detention centre to a correctional facility.

Lopez has been detained since Wednesday, when she was cited for allegedly interfering in a probe into Duterte’s finances.

Duterte stepped down from her cabinet post of education secretary in June as relations between the two families reached breaking point.

Months earlier, her father had accused Marcos of being a “drug addict”, with the president the next day claiming his predecessor’s health was failing due to long-term use of the powerful opioid fentanyl.

Neither have provided any evidence for their allegations.

In October, Duterte said she felt “used” after teaming with Marcos for the 2022 poll.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Manila:

The widening rift between the two most powerful political families in the Philippines became public after the Southeast Asian nation’s Vice President Sara Duterte said that she would have President Ferdinand Marcos Jr assassinated if she were to be killed. Mr Duterte is the daughter of former president Rodrigo Duterte.

Now, the law and order authorities in the Philippines are “investigating” the threats made by their Vice President, and Ms Duterte could be prosecuted if evidence is found supporting her claim. 

“Duterte’s threats are now under investigation and may lead to charges,” the Presidential Communications Office said, citing the justice ministry.

“If the evidence warrants, this could lead to eventual prosecution,” Mr Marcos’ office said in a statement.

The Philippines’ security council has also taken cognisance matter and is “verifying” the alleged assassination threat. National Security Adviser Eduardo Ano said the government considers all threats to the president as “serious”, vowing to closely work with law enforcement and intelligence communities to investigate the threat and possible perpetrators.

“Any and all threats against the life of the president shall be validated and considered a matter of national security,” Mr Ano said in a statement.

VP’s Threat & Response

Addressing a press conference on Saturday morning, Ms Duterte said, “I have spoken to someone. I told them, if I am killed, go and kill BBM [Marcos], [First Lady] Liza Araneta, and [Speaker] Martin Romualdez. No joke. No joke.”

“I said, do not stop until they are dead, and the person agreed,” said added, as quoted by news agency Reuters.

Duterte’s threat stemmed from an order by lawmakers to transfer her chief-of-staff to jail for allegedly impeding its probe over the vice president’s alleged misuse of public funds.

In response to Duterte’s threat, Marcos’ presidential security command said it had tightened its protocols in guarding the Philippine leader and the national police chief had ordered an investigation.

Rife Between Philippines’s Political Families

Sara Duterte, the daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte, and Mr Marcos were once political partners who won an overwhelming mandate to lead the nation’s top two offices in 2022. The alliance crumbled this year over policy differences, including foreign policy and the elder Duterte’s deadly war on drugs.

Marcos’ congressional allies are separately investigating Rodrigo Duterte’s campaign which led to more than 6,000 killed in anti-drug operations and alleged corruption over Sara Duterte’s use of public funds during her tenure as education secretary. Both have denied wrongdoing.

Ms Duterte resigned from the Marcos cabinet in June while remaining vice president, signalling the collapse of a formidable political alliance that helped her and Mr Marcos, son and namesake of the late authoritarian leader, to secure their 2022 electoral victories by wide margins.

Following this, Speaker Romualdez, a cousin of Mr Marcos, slashed the vice presidential office’s budget by nearly two-thirds.

Ms Duterte’s outburst is the latest in a series of startling signs of the feud at the top of Philippine politics. In October, she accused Mr Marcos of incompetence and said she had imagined cutting the president’s head off.

Philippines’ System Of Governance

In the Philippines, the vice president is elected separately from the president and has no official duties. Many vice presidents have pursued social development activities, while some have been appointed to cabinet posts.

The country is gearing up for mid-term elections in May, seen as a litmus test of Mr Marcos’ popularity and a chance for him to consolidate power and groom a successor before his single six-year term ends in 2028.

Philippines’ Vice President Sara Duterte.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte said Wednesday she has resigned from the cabinet of President Ferdinand Marcos, with tense relations between the two families turning into a public rift in recent months.

Ms. Duterte gave no clear reason for her move but she leaves her post as education minister ahead of mid-term and local elections scheduled for next year.

The vice president’s father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, and Mr. Marcos have had a very public falling out as both families attempt to shore up their rival support bases and secure key positions ahead of the mid-term elections and presidential polls in 2028.

Mr. Marcos and Ms. Duterte had teamed up to a landslide victory in the May 2022 presidential and vice presidential election.

Ms. Duterte “tendered her resignation as member of the cabinet” and will no longer serve as secretary of education, presidential spokesperson Cheloy Garafil told reporters, adding she would continue as vice president.

Ms. Duterte also resigned as the vice chairperson of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.

As vice president, the 46-year-old would take over as president in case Mr. Marcos, 66, dies or becomes unable to perform his duties at any time during their six-year terms.

Mr. Garafil said the vice president declined to give her reasons, but Mr. Marcos has accepted the resignation.

“We thank her for her service,” Mr. Garafil added.

In a separate press conference, Ms. Duterte said she met with the president to inform him about her resignation effective July 19.

“Every story, no matter how beautiful, has to end,” she told reporters.

“Even if I will not be the head of the department of education, I will continue to be a mother who will watch and stand for the rights of every teacher and every student in the Philippines.”

She thanked the teachers, partner agencies and the national government for their commitment to improving the country’s education system.

Plummeting relationship

Relations between the Marcos and Duterte families have plummeted in the past two years.

Fronting a rally of supporters in his home city Davao on January 28, Ms. Duterte accused Mr. Marcos of being a “drug addict”, while his youngest son Sebastian Duterte said Mr. Marcos should resign.

Mr. Marcos hit back the next day, claiming that his predecessor’s long-term use of the powerful opioid fentanyl had taken a toll on his health.

Neither man provided evidence of the other’s alleged drug use.

The former president has also urged the military and police to unseat Mr. Marcos if he pursued his proposal to amend the constitution, and threatened to get his southern home region of Mindanao to secede.