Prosecutors, Palace dare VP team: Prove ‘Romanov’
Malacañang and the House prosecutors in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte challenged her defense lawyers to prove the existence of “Operation Romanov,” the alleged assassination plot against her and whose mention during a 2024 online press conference supposedly triggered—and “justified”—her threatening statements against President Marcos, first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former Speaker Martin Romualdez.
At the continuation of the trial on Wednesday, “Romanov” emerged as the anchor of the defense panel’s attempt to give “proper context” to Duterte’s remarks, as one of her lawyers put it.
According to the defense, it was an operation involving unauthorized intelligence gathering and surveillance activities launched against Duterte and her family after she broke ties with President Marcos.
On Thursday, however, both the House prosecution team and Malacañang scoffed at the defense’s tactic to enter Romanov into the trial records, saying no evidence had been presented about its very existence.
The issue first surfaced during Duterte’s Nov. 23, 2024, online press conference after a pro-Duterte vlogger, Princess Maui, asked what the Vice President thought of the social media chatter about Romanov.
The query from the vlogger went: “We are concerned that what we’ve heard might be true, or I don’t know if it is, that there is supposedly an Operation Romanovs and a plan to wipe out you and your family because you stand in the way of their future schemes. So please, be careful… All we can do is call for them to step down. What, then, is the remedy available to those of you who are in positions of power, or to those capable of fighting the rampant corruption and crimes being committed against the people? What remedy can you offer to put an end to this, especially now that the public is clamoring for another people power uprising?”
In response, Duterte cited what prosecutors would later consider as an assassination plot—and an act constituting an impeachable offense.
“Don’t worry about my security because I have already spoken to someone. I told that person that if I am killed, kill BBM, Liza Araneta and Martin Romualdez. No joke. I have already given the instruction. If I die, don’t stop until you have killed them. And he said ‘yes’,” Duterte said during the livestream.
Substantiate ‘Romanov’
On Thursday, the prosecution team’s legal spokesperson Benjamin Tolosa Jr. challenged the defense to substantiate its claims about Operation Romanov.
“We only heard about ‘Romanov’ from the defense counsel. No evidence has been presented in this trial proving it existed in any way. At this point, it remains nothing more than an allegation,” he said.
He said the defense appeared to be using the alleged operation to justify Duterte’s threats.
“But the question the public should ask is this: even if such allegations existed, would that justify threatening another person’s life, especially the life of the President?” Tolosa said.
Malacañang also dismissed the defense’s theory, saying no Operation Romanov could justify threatening the President.
Palace press officer Claire Castro said Duterte’s camp bears the burden of proving the operation existed.
“A threat is a threat. Regardless of who you are, whether you are a mother or the Vice President, threatening the life of the President remains a threat,” Castro said.
“Wasn’t it the Vice President’s camp that raised ‘Oplan Romanov’? Then they should present the evidence and details so that a proper investigation can be conducted,” she added.
Next prosecution witnesses
For next week’s hearings, Tolosa said, the prosecution panel intends to present National Bureau of Investigation Regional Director Jeremy Lotoc, former head of the NBI Anti-Cybercrime Division, and House Legislative Security Bureau Executive Director Capt. Belinda Bello as witnesses.
Office of the Vice President (OVP) chief of staff Zuleika Lopez or NBI Director Melvin Matibag will also be called to testify, he added.
The Senate impeachment court on Thursday formally served a subpoena on Lopez through the OVP’s records unit, directing her to appear on July 13 and 14, according to the court spokesperson Regie Tongol.
Meanwhile, Lopez briefly appeared at the Senate on Thursday before the subpoena could be served. She declined to take questions from the media, only saying: “Prepare for Typhoon Inday.”
She was apparently referring to the approaching supertyphoon—but ‘Inday’ is also the nickname of her boss, the Vice President.
Senate Secretary Renato Bantug later said Lopez’s visit had been scheduled two days earlier and involved only administrative matters, including seating arrangements and logistics for the defense panel.
He said no discussions about the impeachment case took place and that the subpoena was properly served by the Senate sergeant-at-arms.
Threat not trivial
Deputy Speaker Paolo Ortega V, another prosecutor, rejected the defense’s characterization of Duterte’s remarks as merely conditional threats.
“This is not a trivial matter. It is a grave crime. A threat is a threat. Calling it a conditional threat is simply an excuse used by people who make grave threats,” Ortega said.
“This was a threat against the highest official of the land. It is the first time that the country’s second-highest official has threatened the President. It is also the first time that a vice president has threatened the lives of the President’s family and a former House Speaker,” he added.
In his closing statement on Wednesday, defense lawyer Mark Vinluan argued that the prosecution itself had admitted there was no proof Duterte actually hired an assassin.
He said Sen. Risa Hontiveros correctly observed that none of Duterte’s statements proved she had contracted an assassin and noted that the prosecution likewise acknowledged the Nov. 23 video did not establish it as fact.
“There is no proof that Vice President Sara contracted an assassin. Trying to prove this threat narrative using a hodgepodge of materials is a waste of this honorable court’s time and the Filipino people’s money,” Vinluan said.
He said Duterte never mentioned the word “assassin” and that it was only introduced by other parties who took her remarks out of context.
According to Vinluan, Duterte’s statements were prompted by fears for her family’s safety after she was asked about the alleged plot.
“She and her family were under threat. While her response was unconventional, it was justified. What triggered her response was a question about Operation Romanov, which was supposedly a plot to eliminate Vice President Sara and her entire family,” he said.
“The culmination was her statement that early morning in November 2024. She did not commit an impeachable offense. She simply drew the line and said, ‘Enough is enough,’” Vinluan said. —WITH REPORTS FROM KENNETH CHRISTIANE BASILIO, LUISA CABATO, TINA G. SANTOS, KEITH CLORES AND INQUIRER RESEARCH
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