Political dynasties at war in the Philippines

The vice president of the Philippines, Sara Duterte, has claimed to have hired someone to assassinate the president in the event that she herself is killed.

Duterte is the daughter of Rodrigo Duterte, president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022 who was then succeeded by Ferdinand Marcos Jr. She told a press conference on Saturday that her threat was "no joke" and that it also included Marcos's wife and cousin, who is speaker of the house of representatives.

"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," Duterte said. The broadside was the latest "dramatic sign of a widening rift between the country's two most powerful political families", said The Guardian.

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'Fiercer, nastier, and more personal'

Duterte remains vice president despite resigning from the Marcos cabinet in June amid the collapse of what had been a "formidable political alliance". The so-called "UniTeam" – which paired her with Marcos, the son and namesake of the late dictator who was ousted from power in 1986 – secured an electoral landslide in 2022.

From the start, however, analysts had predicted a "divorce between the two most powerful Philippine political dynasties", said the BBC. "The likelihood only increased amid public spats and growing differences over political agendas."

Marcos and Duterte have increasingly clashed over foreign policy (most notably over the pivot away from China towards the US), the war on drugs and accusations of corruption.

Tit-for-tat briefings have been slowly intensifying since the start of the year but in recent weeks, the political rivalry has become "fiercer, nastier, and more personal", said The Diplomat.

Duterte's most recent remarks, which the president's communications office said constituted an "active threat", marks a "new low in relations between the two leaders, underscoring the deepening divide within the ruling coalition", said Turkish news site AA.

2026 'litmus test'

The political feud is likely to come to a head with the approach of the 2026 midterm elections. They will be seen as a "litmus test" of Marcos's popularity and a "chance for him to consolidate power and groom a successor" before his term ends in 2028, said The Guardian.

Many had expected Duterte to be the frontrunner but the increasingly untenable situation "could hurt her chances", said the BBC. Filipino voters do not like to see their president and vice president fighting, Cleve Arguelles, president of polling firm WR Numero, told the broadcaster. The last two VPs lost their presidential bids after falling out with the presidents they ran alongside, meaning there "is a practical necessity for them to stay together", at least until the midterms. Both sides will be hoping to win the parliament and local bodies, which will "boost their respective political agendas" and help them gain the upper hand in the power struggle, said the BBC.