PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has vowed to uphold the rule of law in the face of a highly disturbing claim from Sara Duterte, his estranged vice president, that there is a plot to assassinate her before the 2028 presidential elections, and this has prompted her to ask 'someone' to take down the President, the first lady, Mrs. Liza Araneta-Marcos, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez in the event she were killed. This has been interpreted as an active threat against the trio, a call for their violent death, even though she was merely saying, matter-of-factly, what she has done to avenge her possible death in the hands of her enemies.

The President, his executive secretary and the presidential security command all agreed that the vice president's statement calls for an appropriate response. This has yet to be defined, but it clearly means that if the law has been violated, she cannot be given a free pass, she has to be formally charged in court and punished for it. It seems to me though that the government has a duty to ascertain whether there is any truth to her claim, made without evidence, of a plot to eliminate her before 2028, which is what has reportedly prompted her to arrange for her possible revenge.