(CLO) Philippine security agencies stepped up safety protocols on Saturday, after Vice President Sara Duterte said she would assassinate President Ferdinand Marcos Jr if she herself were killed.
Ms Duterte told a press conference on Saturday morning that she had spoken to a hitman and instructed him to assassinate President Marcos, his wife and the speaker of the Philippine House of Representatives if she was killed.
"I spoke to one person. I said, if I am killed, kill BBM (Marcos), (first lady) Liza Araneta, and (House Speaker) Martin Romualdez. No kidding," Duterte said at a press conference. "I said, don't stop until you kill them, and then he said yes."
Ms. Sara Duterte, Vice President and Minister of Education of the Philippines. Photo: Reuters
The Presidential Security Command said it has increased and reinforced security protocols. "We are also working closely with law enforcement to detect, deter, and defend against any threats to the President and his family as a top priority," 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 utmost urgency".
The Philippine Presidential Communications Office said any threat to the life of President Marcos Jr. must always be taken seriously.
However, Ms Duterte told reporters on Saturday afternoon that “thinking and talking about it is different from actually doing it”, adding that there had been threats on her life. “When that happens, there will be an investigation into my death. The investigation into their deaths will come next.”
The daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte, Ms Duterte resigned from Mr Marcos Jr.’s cabinet in June, although she remained vice president, signaling a rift in the powerful political alliance that helped her and Mr Marcos — son of the late President Ferdinand Marcos — win a landslide victory in the 2022 election.
House Speaker Martin Romualdez, a cousin of Mr. Marcos Jr., has cut the budget of the Office of the Vice President by nearly two-thirds. In the Philippines, the Vice President is elected separately from the President.
Huy Hoang (according to Reuters, CBS, WP)
Source: https://www.congluan.vn/philippines-tang-cuong-an-ninh-sau-khi-pho-tong-thong-doa-am-sat-tong-thong-post322636.html
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