ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
In the Philippines, the vice president gave a kill order in the event of her death. Her target - President Ferdinand Marcos. Vice President Sara Duterte is now under investigation after announcing this in public. It's the latest chapter of an escalating feud between the country's two top political dynasties. Reporter Adam Hancock walks us through it.
ADAM HANCOCK, BYLINE: What started as an impromptu press conference ended with a death threat.
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VICE PRESIDENT SARA DUTERTE: (Non-English language spoken).
HANCOCK: This is Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte. It was during this news conference that her public spat with President Ferdinand Marcos dramatically escalated.
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DUTERTE: (Non-English language spoken).
HANCOCK: This is the moment she revealed that she had ordered someone to kill the president along with his wife and cousin. But she added the assassination would only be carried out if she herself were to be killed.
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DUTERTE: (Through interpreter) I have already made a deal. When I die, I told him, do not stop until you kill them all. And then he said, yes.
HANCOCK: The president's team called the comments a national security issue and immediately increased protection for Marcos. Marcos himself responded with an address to the nation.
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PRESIDENT FERDINAND MARCOS: (Through interpreter) The statements we heard in the previous days were trouble. There is the reckless use of profanities and threats to kill some of us. Such criminal plans should not be overlooked.
HANCOCK: That's when Duterte dismissed accusations that her comments were an active threat, calling it, quote, "a plan without flesh." An investigation has been opened, and the fallout has sparked a major political storm.
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UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Chanting in non-English language).
HANCOCK: But things weren't always bitter between this pair. Two years ago, Marcos and Duterte teamed up to secure a stunning victory in the presidential election. They are both the children of former presidents and ran on a campaign of national unity. But the relationship soured, leading Duterte to resign from the cabinet in June. Richard Heydarian is a Filipino political scientist and author. He says Duterte felt slighted by Marcos.
RICHARD HEYDARIAN: As soon as Marcos Jr. took over, he did not really give into the demands of the Dutertes. He did not give Sara Duterte the Department of National Defense.
HANCOCK: Duterte's threat came after her chief of staff was detained as part of an investigation into her office's alleged misuse of public funds. On top of that, her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, has also faced a senate inquiry over his administration's deadly crackdown on drugs. All of this comes less than six months before midterm elections. Cleve Arguelles is the chief executive of Philippines polling firm WR Numero Research. He says while the investigations are legitimate, they're also clearly part of a broader strategy for Marcos to weaken the political influence of the Duterte family.
CLEVE ARGUELLES: We see this quite a lot in Philippine politics, trying to weaken the political influence of the vice presidents.
HANCOCK: Duterte now has to appear before investigators on Friday. Her comments could constitute a crime under Philippine law. If found guilty, she could face jail time. For NPR News, I'm Adam Hancock in Singapore.
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