The recent assassination threat by Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte against the life of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the event of her own assassination has escalated the growing rift in the country's politics as the political alliance between the two families collapses. It comes as both the vice president and her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, face investigations in both houses of the country's Congress.
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00:00Protesters outside the Philippine Congressional Building calling for the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte.
00:08Inside, she is under fire, facing a congressional hearing for alleged corruption,
00:14including the misuse of US$6 million worth of confidential funds in just 11 days.
00:21Claiming political persecution, Duterte has retaliated with a series of threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
00:29The latest not only the most shocking, but the most severe.
00:45In a press briefing, Duterte said the president and his allies want her out of the way to solidify their hold on power.
00:53Marcos and Duterte were themselves former political allies who ran together and won a landslide victory in the 2022 national elections.
01:02Both are from political dynasties.
01:05Marcos Jr. is the son of Ferdinand Sr., the dictator ousted by a popular revolt in 1986.
01:13While Duterte's father Rodrigo is the most recent former president, notorious for his pro-China stance and instigating a bloody drug war that saw thousands of Filipinos killed.
01:25Barely two years in office, the Marcos-Duterte alliance fell apart as they disagreed on various domestic and international issues,
01:34most notably maritime disputes in the South China Sea and the approach to the so-called war on drugs.
01:42Like his daughter, the vice president, Rodrigo Duterte is also facing scrutiny, questioned in Congress for his administration's drug war,
01:51as well as being investigated by the International Criminal Court.
01:56President Marcos has emphasized that none of this is politically motivated, and he has vowed to fight back against his vice president's threats.
02:13As a democratic country, we need to uphold the rule of law.
02:18The growing tensions between the two factions are expected to divide the country.
02:23Despite the accusations against them, the Dutertes remain very popular.
02:28The most recent poll put Sara Duterte's trust rating at 55%,
02:33and supporters have come out for them not just in the Philippines,
02:37but also abroad, where the Dutertes have a large following among overseas voters.
02:43Analysts say the political drama could be a tactic to distract the public from the ongoing scrutiny faced by the Dutertes,
02:51and could leave the country's traditional opposition forces at a disadvantage, especially as the country's 2025 winter elections draw near.
03:00The opposition candidates and opposition parties will have difficulty fighting for media mileage when the media is focused on Duterte and Marcos,
03:13especially when it highlights another key feature of Philippine politics, which is political dynasties,
03:18or families that control multiple positions in government and govern according to their own benefit, rather than public service.
03:28Duterte's most recent threat is now a matter of national security, and the Justice Ministry has vowed an investigation.
03:36While it is unclear if Duterte will successfully be impeached,
03:41one certainty is that this most recent political drama will leave the Philippines even more polarized than before.
03:48Howard Chang and Gino Lopez for Taiwan Plus.