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Philippines Vice President Sara Duterte stirred up controversy when she apparently threatened to kill the president.
When a sitting vice president claims she hired assassins to kill the president and dreams of cutting off his head, you would think the country was in serious trouble.
But this is the Philippines, where politics and melodrama go hand in hand.
“I spoke to one person,” Vice President Sara Duterte said on her Facebook page last weekend. “I said, if I get killed, go kill BBM (President Marcos), (First Lady) Liza Araneta and (Speaker of the House of Representatives) Martin Romualdez. No joke. I said, don't stop until you kill them, and then he said yes.
Last month, she told reporters that her relationship with President Marcos had become toxic and that she dreamed of cutting off his head. She also threatened to dig up the body of the president's father from the Manila Heroes' Cemetery and throw his ashes into the sea.
Behind all this drama is a once-powerful political alliance that has collapsed spectacularly.
A marriage of convenience
The decision of the Marcos and Duterte clans to join forces for the 2022 presidential election was a marriage of convenience. Both candidates were descendants of presidents – Sara Duterte's father, Rodrigo, was the incumbent president at the time – and enjoyed strong support in different parts of the Philippines. Both had populist appeal.
However, running both for president risked dividing their supporters and losing to a third candidate.
So she agreed that Marcos would run for president and she for vice president – the two positions are elected separately – but that they would form one team during the election campaign. The assumption was that the young Duterte would then be in a privileged position to run in the next presidential election in 2028.
This has proven to be a very effective strategy. The UniTeam, as they presented themselves, won hands down.
However, as any of his predecessors could have told Duterte, the vice presidency is largely ceremonial and carries few powers.
The Dutertes wanted the influential Defense portfolio; President Marcos instead gave him education, an early sign that he was reluctant to let his vice president strengthen his power base.
He also radically turned away from the policies of his predecessor.
He ordered the Philippine Navy and Coast Guard to stand up to China in disputed areas of the South China Sea. This was in sharp contrast to President Rodrigo Duterte who refused to challenge China's dominant presence there and even said he liked Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
Marcos also toned down President Duterte's infamous war on drugs, in which thousands of suspected drug traffickers were gunned down.
He raised the possibility of re-entering the International Criminal Court, which indicted Rodrigo Duterte for crimes against humanity. The former president also found himself before the Philippine Senate, questioned about extrajudicial killings that occurred during his presidency.
Relations between the two camps further deteriorated when Marcos's allies in the lower house launched an investigation into Sara Duterte's use of confidential funds allocated to her when she got the job.
In July, the vice president resigned as Secretary of Education and her language became increasingly inflammatory.
The “alpha” vice-president
Sara Duterte is no stranger to controversy. Thirteen years ago, while serving as mayor of Davao City, she was filmed repeatedly punching a court official.
She comes from the same political mold as her outspoken father, both known for their tough words. He called the pope a “son of a bitch” and bragged about killing people.
He describes her as the “alpha” character of the family who always gets what she wants; she says he's hard to love. Like her father, she likes to ride big motorcycles.
His latest threats against his former ally, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, could, however, prove to be one verbal indiscretion too many.
Marcos responded by calling Duterte's comments “reckless” and “troubling.” The Philippine National Bureau of Investigation – its equivalent to the American FBI – summoned the vice-president on Friday to explain its threats.
She has now brought them back, denying their reality. “It’s a plan without flesh,” she explained, accusing Marcos of being a liar who was leading the country to hell.
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Marcos distanced himself from the policies of former President Duterte (photo), accused of extrajudicial executions and crimes against humanity.
It was perhaps inevitable that two such powerful families would become rivals in the whirlwind of Philippine politics, which still depends largely on personalities, big families and regions.
Political loyalties are fluid; senators and congressmen constantly change their party allegiance. Power inevitably centers around the president, with his authority to distribute government funds. Former presidents are routinely investigated for corruption or abuse of power once they leave office.
President Marcos wants to restore the image of his family, after the shameful ousting of his father during a popular uprising in 1986, and will be keen to influence the choice of his successor in 2028. The Dutertes have their own ambitions dynastic.
For now, Sara Duterte is still vice president. She could be removed by impeachment by the Senate, but that would be a risky move for President Marcos. She enjoys strong popular support in the south and among millions of overseas Filipino workers, and it may be difficult to gain sufficient support in the Senate for her impeachment.
Midterm elections are scheduled for May next year, in which the entire lower house and half of the 24 senatorial seats will be contested. They will be considered a test of strength for each of the rival camps.
Duterte's explosive break with the president is an opportunity for him to support his own candidates and present himself as an alternative to a government that has lost popularity due to the economy's poor performance. This could give him a better launching pad for the 2028 presidential race than remaining chained to the Marcos government.
But after her incendiary comments in recent weeks, Filipinos must be wondering: what will she say next?
