“I Want to Cut His Head Off!”: Political Rift Between PH President Marcos, VP Duterte Goes Public

Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte held a press conference on Friday (Oct. 18), where she accused President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of merely using her for political gain, among other accusations.

The vice president, who happens to be the daughter of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, was Marcos’s running mate in the 2022 elections that both of them won. Reuters reported that Duterte accused Marcos of being incompetent and lacking leadership aptitude during the two-hour conference.

“The sitting leader does not know how to become president,” she told reporters about Marcos.

Duterte added that she was not aware of Marcos discussing what he would do upon assuming office.

She added that the Marcos-Duterte alliance was merely a ploy not to let former Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo win the 2022 vote for the presidency, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported.

Analysts speculated that the rift between the Marcoses and the Dutertes would increase the risk of political instability in the Southeast Asian archipelago nation.

In February, Moody’s Analytics Singapore economist Sarah Tan told Bloomberg that amending political provisions would “escalate tensions” within the Marcos-Duterte 2022 ticket.

Duterte’s Decapitation Daydreams

The criticisms were revealed as the Philippines prepares for its midterm election in May 2025. It all started when the lower house of the Philippine Congress, led by Marcos’s cousin Martin Romualdez, significantly slashed funding for Duterte’s office during the deliberations on the proposed 2025 annual budget.

At one point in the conference, Duterte told a Marcos family member that she would have the body of patriarch and former president Ferdinand Marcos Sr. exhumed from its resting place in Manila’s heroes’ cemetery — itself a controversial move by Duterte’s father during his term — and have it thrown into the South China Sea if the Marcoses would not cut back in their criticism of the Dutertes.

A separate report from the Inquirer further detailed Duterte’s confession that she imagined decapitating Marcos, claiming that his family was cursing her. She further explained that the incident happened while both Marcos and her were attending a school graduation ceremony, saying that such a thought came about after one of the graduates asked Marcos if he could have the president’s watch as a graduation gift, to which Duterte claimed Marcos responded with: “Why would I give you my watch?”

Aside from allegedly being physically unwell at the time, she also recalled how she was sickened with Marcos’s response to the student and realized how “toxic” her working relationship with him became. 

“At that point … I just want to cut his head off,” she candidly added.

On the other hand, Presidential Communication Secretary Cesar Chavez said that Marcos would not respond to Duterte’s claims.