MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is facing a criminal complaint Monday over comments he made during a campaign rally when he said 15 senators should be killed in a bombing to allow more vacant seats for his own party's candidates to fill.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) filed a criminal complaint against former president Rodrigo Duterte over his alleged threat to kill incumbent senators, some of whom were campaigning under the ticket of his successor, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

At a political rally last week, Rodrigo Duterte joked about killing 15 senators with a bomb so to free up positions for his own party’s candidates.

The Marcos and Duterte families dominate politics in the Philippines, and elections in the country can be as much a battle of personalities and factional interests as of policy.

It is the conflict between the United States and China that is being fought out in the upcoming election, and the impeachment is the opening salvo.

Criminal complaints have been filed by Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre III, Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) chief, on Monday, against former President Rodrigo Duterte over his “kill” and “bomb” remarks against senators.