Marcos, popularly known as Bongbong Marcos and BBM, is the late Philippines strongman Ferdinand Sr.’s son. as He has emerged as the overwhelming favorite in the presidential election on May 9.

Vic Rodriguez, Marcos’ chief of staff, praised the justice ministry for its “swift and uncompromising action to find those behind this open threat to assault and assassinate presidential hopeful Bongbong Marcos.”

Based on a report from its cybercrime section, the Department of Justice has directed law enforcement to investigate a post on the social media site TikTok threatening to assassinate presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr. “If a bomb joke is actionable, so is an assassination threat, whether real or false,” DOJ Secretary Menardo Guevarra told reporters. The chief of the DOJ’s cybercrime branch, Charito Zamora, claimed her agency got a “text report” from a concerned citizen on Friday concerning a TikTok post that stated:

“We are meeting everyday to prepare to have BBM assassinated. Get ready.”

“While this assassination plan is concerning, we are not scared,” Rodriguez stated in a statement. Aside from Marcos, other candidates for the president include Vice President Leni Robredo, former boxing champion Manny Pacquiao, and Manila Mayor Francisco Domingo. Zamora stated that her office has forwarded the incident to the police and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and that TikTok has been asked to preserve data associated with the account while authorities begin an investigation.