Politics in the Philippines is beset by clan rivalry at the best of times but recent events have well and truly blown the lid off a box of snakes. A vice-president making assassination threats towards her own president,

The Philippine police filed a complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte and her security detail over an alleged assault, prompting her to claim she is being persecuted and that her relations with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday described her threat as a criminal plot and vowed to fight it and uphold the rule of law in the country in a looming showdown between the country’s two top leaders.