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.

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 made a shocking public threat, claiming she had contracted an assassin to kill President Marcos, his wife, and House Speaker Romualdez if she were to be killed.

Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte said Saturday she has contracted an assassin to kill the president, his wife and the House of Representatives speaker if she herself is killed, in a brazen public threat that she warned was not a joke.

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.

The Presidential Communications Office (PCO) on Saturday said that threats made by Vice President Sara Duterte against President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has been referred to the Presidential Security Command for immediate proper action.