Malacanang is taking seriously a statement of Vice President Sara Duterte that she has hired an assassin to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. saying that it is being treated as an “active threat”.

In a statement on Saturday (November 23), the Presidential Communications Office announced that Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin referred the matter to the Presidential Security Command “for immediate proper action.”

Duterte has disclosed on Friday night that she had already instructed a person to kill Marcos, his wife, Liza and cousin Speaker Martin Romualdez.

The vice president has an on-going feud with Mrs. Marcos and has accused Romualdez of using the House of Representatives to destroy her reputation as an official of the country.

Duterte has been widely believe to be behind the victory of Marcos during the 2022 presidential elections.

“Acting on the Vice President’s clear and unequivocal statement that she had contracted an assassin to kill the President if an alleged plotagainst her succeeds, the Executive Secretary has referred this active threat to the Presidential Security Command for immediate proper action,” the Malacanang statement said.

The Palace added: “Any threat to the life of the President must always be taken seriously, more so that this threat has been publicly revealed in clear and certain terms.”

Duterte has stirred controversy since Thursday when she visited her chief of staff, lawyer Zuleika Lopez at the Batasan Pambansa complex in Quezon City where she is being held after being held in contempt by a Lower House panel investigating alleged fund irregularities in the Office of the Vice President.

Duterte spent the night at the office of her brother, Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte, when asked to leave by Lower House security because it was way past visiting hours.

On Friday, she made the declaration about the planned assassination during an online press conference she called. Lopez joined her in the briefing.

“May kinausap na ako na tao. Sinabi ko sa kanya, ‘Kapag pinatay ako, patayin mo si BBM, si LIza Araneta at si Martin Romualdez’. No joke, no joke. Nagbilin na ako,” Duterte told reporters.