The statement of Vice President Sara Duterte that she hired an assassin to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is an “active threat,” Malacañang said Friday. The Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said in a statement Saturday that Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin has referred the matter to the Presidential Security Command “for immediate proper action.

Vice President Sara Duterte clarified on Saturday that her statement that she would have President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Speaker Martin Romualdez, and First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos assassinated if she were killed was not a threat.

Leila de Lima criticized Vice President Sara Duterte for threatening to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during “a mega meltdown.” On microblogging platform X, the former senator likewise branded Duterte’s pronouncements as part of a “political drama staged by the OVP to divert the issue from its plunder of confidential funds.