Philippines' Marcos drops estranged VP Duterte from security council

MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte will no longer sit on the National Security Council after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed an order removing her office from the agency, following a bitter split between the two former allies last year.

Marcos said the reorganisation of the National Security Council (NSC) was needed to "ensure that its council members uphold and protect national security and sovereignty".

The vice-president's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"At the moment, the VP is not considered relevant to the responsibilities of membership in the NSC," Lucas P. Bersamin, Executive Secretary to the President, said in a statement.

The council's reorganisation was also aimed at guaranteeing a resilient national security institution that was able to adapt to new challenges, according to the order, which was signed on Dec. 30 and released on Friday.

The changes have also excluded former presidents from council membership and empowered Marcos to appoint "other government officials and private citizens" as needed.

Sara Duterte, the daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte, is currently facing impeachment complaints accusing her of graft, incompetence and amassing ill-gotten wealth while in office. She has denied the allegations.

Duterte has said she had contracted an assassin to kill the president, his wife and cousin who is the speaker of the House of Representatives if she herself were killed. She later claimed her remarks had been taken out of context.

(Reporting by Karen Lema and Mikhail Flores; Editing by John Mair)

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