Philippine president and vice president clash in a feud that's testing an Asian democracy

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A major political storm set off by a bitter feud between the Philippine president and the vice president is testing an Asian democracy that has long been troubled by rowdy politics, poor law enforcement and bareface impunity.

Just over two years ago, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte won in landslide electoral victories on a campaign battle cry of national unity.

But their fragile alliance rapidly floundered over major differences, including their leanings toward either the United States or China, and Marcos’ rejection of the bloody crackdown on illegal drugs launched by his predecessor and Duterte’s father, Rodrigo Duterte.

The hostilities came to a head over the weekend when Sara Duterte told reporters she had arranged for Marcos, his wife and his cousin and speaker of the House of Representatives, to be assassinated if she were fatally attacked herself. Marcos went on TV and declared he was ready to fight back.

Here are the key figures in the unfolding political crisis:

Like her father, ex-President Rodrigo Duterte, the 46-year-old lawyer is a populist politician known for profanity-laced outbursts and temper that often clashed with official decorum. She made the political elites wary but endeared herself to ordinary people in a nation where name recall, political patronage and star-studded campaigns matter more than policy and governance platforms. As a provincial city mayor, Duterte successfully ran as Marcos' running mate in the 2022 race. But soon rifts appeared, including Duterte's opposition to congressional inquiries led by Marcos' allies into the thousands of deaths in the crackdown on drugs during Rodrigo Duterte's presidency 2016-2022. Also being investigated is her alleged misuse of funds while she served as education secretary.

When Duterte's chief of staff was temporarily detained by legislators after refusing to cooperate with the inquiry, Duterte made the threats in an online news conference against Marcos, his wife and House Speaker Martin Romualdez. She also accused Marcos’ family of responsibility for the 1983 assassination of an opposition leader, which sparked a 1986 pro-democracy uprising that ousted Ferdinand Marcos, the current president's father.

Marcos' resounding electoral victory in 2022 was regarded as one of the most stunning reversal of fortunes for his family, which had fled the Philippines following the 1986 army-backed “people power” revolt and returned years later. He inherited a battered economy, divisive politics and calls for him help prosecute his predecessor for the drug killings, which are being investigated by the International Criminal Court.

Rodrigo Duterte has accused Marcos of being a weak leader and a drug addict, accusations the president denied. The new course Marcos chartered for the Philippines broke away with Duterte, who built close ties with China and Russia and antagonized the U.S. Marcos broadened defense ties with Washington and began going public with China’s aggressive actions to claim territory in the disputed South China Sea.

In a sign of growing enmity, first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos disclosed her ill-feelings toward Sara Duterte in a radio interview in April. Duterte resigned two months later as Marcos' education secretary and head of an anti-insurgency body. She said last month that her relationship with Marcos had “gone so toxic” she has imagined “cutting his head.” Addressing the country on Monday, Marcos said he would fight the vice president’s “criminal plot” and uphold the rule of law. “The truth should not be summarily executed,” Marcos said in Tagalog, using a term associated with Rodrigo Duterte’s drug killings.

One of Asia’s most unorthodox contemporary leaders until his six-year term ended in 2022, Duterte, 79 and in frail health, has retained a sizable following and remains one of the president's harshest critics. In his decades-long political career, he carved a name for his profanity-laced outbursts and disdain for human rights and the West while nurturing close ties with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian leader Vladimir Putin. He has accused Marcos, his wife and the House speaker of financial anomalies and once warned Marcos could be ousted like his father if they attempt constitutional reforms to allegedly prolong their grip on power. In a news conference on Monday, Duterte asked the military how long it would continue to support a president “who’s a drug addict."

“There is a fractured governance … It is only the military who can correct it,” Duterte said, but clarified that he was not calling for a coup.

Widely speculated to be harboring plans to run for the presidency in 2028, House Speaker Martin Romualdez has been accused by Sara Duterte of trying to destroy her reputation to eliminate a future contender. The 61-year-old member of a wealthy clan in the central Philippines, he has played a crucial role as head of the lower chamber, which is dominated by Marcos' allies. He will be key to handling a possible impeachment complaint against the vice president for the alleged misuse of funds. Addressing the House on Monday, Romualdez stressed that Sara Duterte should be held accountable for the death threats against him, the president and his wife. “The gravity of such a confession demands accountability. It demands answers. It demands that we, as the representatives of the Filipino people, take a stand to protect our democracy from any and all forms of threats,” Romualdez said.

Associated Press video journalist Joeal Calupitan contributed to this report.

FILE- Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte speaks during a senate inquiry on the so-called war on drugs during his administration at the Philippine Senate Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in Manila, Philippines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, File)

FILE - Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. listens during the 12th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) -U.S. Summit in Vientiane, Laos, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)

This combination photo shows Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte, left, in Quezon City, Philippines, Nov. 13, 2024, and Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in Vientiane, Laos, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo)

FILE - Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., center right, and Vice President Sara Duterte, daughter of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, raise hands during the inauguration ceremony at National Museum on Thursday, June 30, 2022 in Manila, Philippines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, File)

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — How do you remove children from the harms of social media? Politically the answer appears simple in Australia, but practically the solution could be far more difficult.

The Australian government’s plan to ban children from social media platforms including X, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram until their 16th birthdays is politically popular. The opposition party says it would have done the same after winning elections due within months if the government hadn’t moved first.

The leaders of all eight Australian states and mainland territories have unanimously backed the plan, although Tasmania, the smallest state, would have preferred the threshold was set at 14.

But a vocal assortment of experts in the fields of technology and child welfare have responded with alarm. More than 140 such experts signed an open letter to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemning the 16-year age limit as “too blunt an instrument to address risks effectively.”

Details of how it will be implemented are scant. Lawmakers debated the bill in parliament this week, and it was expected to be passed into law with the support of major parties.

Here's a look at how some Australians are viewing the issue.

Leo Puglisi, a 17-year-old Melbourne student who founded online streaming service 6 News Australia at the age of 11, worries that lawmakers imposing the ban don't understand social media as well as young people at home in the digital age.

“With respect to the government and prime minister, they didn’t grow up in the social media age, they’re not growing up in the social media age, and what a lot of people are failing to understand here is that, like it or not, social media is a part of people’s daily lives,” Leo said.

“It’s part of their communities, it’s part of work, it’s part of entertainment, it’s where they watch content – young people aren’t listening to the radio or reading newspapers or watching free-to-air TV – and so it can’t be ignored. The reality is this ban, if implemented, is just kicking the can down the road for when a young person goes on social media,” Leo added.

Leo has been applauded for his work online. He was a finalist in his home state Victoria's nomination for the Young Australian of the Year award, which will be announced in January. His nomination bid credits his platform with “fostering a new generation of informed, critical thinkers.”

One of the proposal's supporters, cyber safety campaigner Sonya Ryan, knows personally how dangerous social media can be for children.

Her 15-year-old daughter Carly Ryan was murdered in 2007 in South Australia state by a 50-year-old pedophile who pretended to be a teenager online. In a grim milestone of the digital age, Carly was the first person in Australia to be killed by an online predator.

“Kids are being exposed to harmful pornography, they’re being fed misinformation, there are body image issues, there’s sextortion, online predators, bullying. There are so many different harms for them to try and manage and kids just don’t have the skills or the life experience to be able to manage those well,” Sonya Ryan said.

“The result of that is we’re losing our kids. Not only what happened to Carly, predatory behavior, but also we’re seeing an alarming rise in suicide of young people,” she added.

Sonya Ryan is part of a group advising the government on a national strategy to prevent and respond to child sexual abuse in Australia.

She wholeheartedly supports Australia setting the social media age limit at 16.

“We’re not going to get this perfect,” she said. “We have to make sure that there are mechanisms in place to deal with what we already have which is an anxious generation and an addicted generation of children to social media."

A major concern for social media users of all ages is the legislation’s potential privacy implications.

Age estimation technology has proved inaccurate, so digital identification appears to be the most likely option for assuring a user is at least 16.

Tama Leaver, professor of internet studies at Curtin University, fears that the government will make the platforms hold the users’ identification data.

The government has already said the onus will be on the platforms, rather than on children or their parents, to ensure everyone meets the age limit.

“The worst possible outcome seems to be the one that the government may be inadvertently pushing towards, which would be that the social media platforms themselves would end up being the identity arbiter,” Leaver said.

“They would be the holder of identity documents which would be absolutely terrible because they have a fairly poor track record so far of holding on to personal data well,” he added.

The platforms will have a year once the legislation has become law to work out how the ban can be implemented.

Ryan, who divides her time between Adelaide in South Australia and Fort Worth, Texas, said privacy concerns should not stand in the way of removing children from social media.

“What is the cost if we don’t? If we don’t put the safety of our children ahead of profit and privacy?” she asked.

Online safety advocate Sonya Ryan attends a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia on June 15, 2021. Ryan knows from personal tragedy how dangerous social media can be for children. (Mick Tsikas/AAP Image via AP)

In this image made from video released by Leo Puglisi, 17-year-old Leo Puglisi records his online streaming news service 6 News Australia, from Melbourne, Australia in January 2024. (Leo Puglisi via AP)