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

Under the Philippine penal code, such public remarks may constitute a crime and can be punishable by a jail term and fine.

Security agencies in the Philippines have stepped up safety protocols after the country's vice president said she would have president assassinated if she herself were killed.

The vice-president of the Philippines has hired a hitman to kill the country’s president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, his wife and the speaker of the house, in the event she is assassinated.

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".

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

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.