The Vice President Said She Had Hired Someone to Kill the President
On a live Zoom, Sara Duterte said her life was threatened and that she had arranged for Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to be killed if she died.
Bloomberg Originals · How a Wild Philippines Political Feud Could Affect AsiaSara Duterte, the country's vice president, appeared live on Zoom.
She turned on Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the president of the Philippines and, just two years earlier, her running mate. "This country is going to hell because we are led by a person who doesn't know how to be a president and who is a liar," she said.
It was more than an insult. In that same appearance, Duterte said her own life was under threat and that she had lined up a hired killer to target Marcos if that happened.
The statement was extraordinary even in the Philippines, where political life is famous for theatrical clashes. Here was a sitting vice president publicly describing a hired killer she had lined up against a sitting president, a man with whom she had recently been projecting an image of unity.
That unity had a brand name, Uniteam, the joint ticket that won the 2022 election. It was a practical alliance uniting two of the country's most powerful political families, the Marcoses of the north and the Dutertes of the south.
It did not last. Sara Duterte, the daughter of former president Rodrigo Duterte, said she wanted to be defense secretary, the official in charge of the armed forces. Marcos gave her the education portfolio instead.
Her time running the Department of Education then drew scrutiny over alleged misuse of funds, an allegation she rejects. The detention of a trusted aide came during the investigation, and she went on Zoom soon after.
Duterte is known in the Philippines as a feisty personality who speaks her mind freely. But this went beyond tough talk, and it shocked people to see a vice president declare an assassination threat against her own president. Can a threat that takes effect after your own death be a crime?
The tensions did not end there. What had been a partnership was now an open feud, with the vice president on record saying she had prepared a killer to act after her own death.
Questions people ask
Are the president and vice president always elected together?
No. Voters in the Philippines elect the president and vice president separately, so they can come from rival camps. In 2022, Marcos and Duterte chose to run together as Uniteam to combine votes from the north and the south.
Why was she talking about the Department of Education?
Marcos gave her the education portfolio after she said she wanted defense, the job overseeing the military. Her tenure there later faced allegations of misuse of funds, which she denies, and the investigation led to the detention of a trusted aide.
Could Sara Duterte become president?
Marcos is due to leave office in 2028, and Duterte is emerging as his likely successor. That is why the collapse of their alliance matters well beyond the personal feud.