MANILA (Reuters) -Philippine security agencies stepped up safety protocols on Saturday after Vice President Sara Duterte said she would have President Ferdinand Marcos Jr assassinated if she herself were killed.

Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte said she has contracted a hired killer to assassinate her country's president in a bizarre public threat made amid worsening political divisions.

Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin referred the “active threat” against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to his elite presidential guards on Saturday “for immediate proper action.”

Philippines Vice President Sara Duterte said Saturday if she is killed, she has contracted an assassin to assassinate President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., his wife and House of Representatives speaker.

Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte said on Saturday she would have President Ferdinand Marcos Jr assassinated if she herself were killed, prompting Marcos' office to vow "immediate proper action".

Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte on Saturday threatened to have President Ferdinand Marcos Jr assassinated if she herself was killed, amid a growing rift between the two most powerful political families in the country.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos' security detail has been put on alert over what his office is calling an "active threat" against his life by Vice President Sara Duterte, the palace

The presidential security agency said the vice president's threat on President Marcos was "a matter of national security." Duterte said she would have the president killed if she herself were to be killed.

The ‘active threat’ has been referred to the Presidential Security Command for ‘immediate proper action’ following her warning.