Philippine vice president publicly threatens to assassinate the country's president.

On Saturday, Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte stunned the nation by revealing that she had hired an assassin to kill the president, his wife, and other top officials in the event of her untimely death.

Duterte made it clear in a press conference that she was serious and not joking about her threat to have President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. killed if anything happened to her first. Bersamin, the executive secretary, referred the "active threat" against the president to a presidential guard force for immediate action.

The Presidential Security Command has "enhanced and fortified" Marcos' security measures. "Additionally, we are closely collaborating with law enforcement agencies to identify, discourage, and safeguard against any potential dangers to the President and the First Family."

Security officials are taking the threat, which was made publicly, very seriously.

The command stated that this issue pertains to national security and they will take all required actions to safeguard the President.

No action will be taken against the vice president.

In the May 2022 elections, Marcos and Duterte ran together on the same ticket and won with landslide majorities by campaigning on the theme of national unity.

The falling out between Marcos and Duterte was caused by disagreements over policy towards Chinese aggression in the disputed South China Sea and other key issues.

Rodrigo Duterte's daughter, a populist, is a well-known critic of Marcos, his wife Liza Araneta-Marcos, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez, the president's ally and cousin. She has accused them of corruption, incompetence, and political persecution of her family and supporters.

After House members allied with Romualdez and Marcos detained her chief of staff, Zuleika Lopez, who was accused of hampering a congressional inquiry into the possible misuse of her budget as vice president and education secretary, Marcos threatened to have Lopez killed. Lopez later fell ill and wept when she heard of a plan to temporarily lock her up in a women's prison, according to the Associated Press.

On Saturday, Duterte conducted an online press conference and accused Marcos of being an incompetent president and a liar, along with his wife and the House speaker, using several expletives in his remarks.

The 46-year-old lawyer assured that she had discussed her security concerns with someone and threatened to kill several individuals if she was killed, including BBM, Liza Araneta, and Martin Romualdez.

The vice president stated, according to the AP, "I've given my order: 'If I die, don't stop until you've killed them.' And he said, 'yes.'"

It is illegal in the Philippines to make public statements that could be considered a crime of threatening to harm someone or their family, which can result in imprisonment and a fine.

Gen. Romeo Brawner, the military chief of the 160,000-member Armed Forces of the Philippines, issued a statement pledging the military's nonpartisan stance "while respecting democratic institutions and civilian authority" amidst the political divisions.

"Brawner urged calmness and determination, emphasizing the importance of unity in the face of those who seek to divide us as Filipinos."

Rodrigo Duterte, Duterte's father, was a city mayor and later president who enforced anti-drug crackdowns through police, resulting in thousands of drug suspects being killed. The International Criminal Court is currently investigating these killings as a possible crime against humanity.

Despite denying authorization of extrajudicial killings during his anti-drug campaign, the former president's public statements have contradicted his denials. In a Senate inquiry last month, he admitted to maintaining a "death squad" of gangsters to kill other criminals while he was mayor of Davao city.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.