Ferdinand “Bong-Bong” Marcos Jr., also known as Bongbong Marcos and BBM, is the son of the late Philippines strong leader Ferdinand Sr. He has appeared as the overwhelming favorite in the May nine at presidential election. The presidential candidate recently received assassination threats on social media.

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., based on a report from its cybercrime section. “If a bomb joke is actionable, so is an assassination threat, whether real or false,” DOJ Secretary Menardo Guevarra told reporters. Charito Zamora, the head of the DOJ’s cybercrime branch, claimed on Friday that her agency received a “text report” from a concerned citizen about 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. Other candidates for President besides Marcos include Vice President Leni Robredo, former boxing champion Manny Pacquiao, and Manila Mayor Francisco Domingo. According to Zamora, her office has reported the incident to the police and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and TikTok has been asked to preserve data associated with the account while authorities conduct an investigation.

In a media briefing, PNP Chief of Police General Dionardo Carlos stated that the investigation into the matter is in continual.

“Identified na po ‘yung gumamit ng TikTok (The user of the Tiktok account has been identified already),” he said.

Authorities are conducting continuous tracking of digital trails for the identification of the Tiktor user, the PNP chief said.

If enough evidence is gathered, Carlos stated that authorities will file charges against the TikTok user and serve an arrest warrant.