NBI witness: ‘Oplan Romanov’ kill plot vs Sara originated from Baste; target was Marcos

The so-called “Oplan Romanov,” or the alleged covert operation purportedly aimed at eliminating Vice President Sara Duterte and her family, originated from her brother, Davao Mayor Baste Duterte, and was actually a threat against the First Family, an official from the National Bureau of Investigation said Tuesday.

NBI Regional Director Jeremy Lotoc is the second witness of the prosecution in the impeachment trial of Duterte concerning the alleged grave threats under Article 4.

Lotoc told the Senate impeachment court that the NBI carried out an open-source investigation to ascertain the veracity of the alleged plot against the life of the VP, which was raised by a vlogger named Princess Maiu during a 23 November online press briefing.

“Insofar as our investigation is concerned, it started with Mayor Baste. And because we could not validate any other Romanov operations, I think it originated with them, sir, with the Vice President's brother,” Latoc said partly in Filipino.

In that briefing, Maui advised the VP to be vigilant, citing alleged reports of “Oplan Romanov” against her and her family amid their bitter falling out with the Marcos administration.

The Romanovs refer to the Russian imperial ruling family, who were systematically executed by Bolshevik revolutionaries in July 1918.

The VP responded that there is no need to fret because she already contracted a hitman to take revenge for her and kill President Marcos Jr., First Lady Lisa Marcos, and then-Speaker Martin Romualdez.

Her threat formed one of the four articles of impeachment against her, with the prosecution alleging that they constituted high crimes, which is an impeachable offense.

Before the NBI recommended the filing of grave threats and inciting to sedition against the VP with the Department of Justice, Lotoc said the bureau lauched separate probes into the threats leveled against the President and the VP.

Although a comprehensive investigation into VP’s case was not pursued because Maui allegedly did not cooperate with the bureau about the details of the supposed “Romanov” operations. He remarked that the NBI tried to invite Maui, but to no avail.

According to the NBI official, the vlogger’s information was “not reliable, insofar as the Cybercrime Division is concerned.”

Traces back to Baste

Senator-judges took turns questioning Lotoc about the so-called Romanov operations.

Lotoc, the head of the NBI's cybercrime division at the time Duterte uttered the threats against Marcos, narrated that his team conducted an open-source review, which revealed that the “Romanov” operation was traced to Mayor Baste during the Maisug rally on 29 January 2024.

“That's the reason why when Princess Maui asked us about the Romanov, we conducted an open-source investigation. We tried to find it. That's when we saw that in January 2024, during the Maisug Rally, if I'm not mistaken, the term Romanov was uttered by Mayor Baste, Your Honor,” Lotoc said.

In that rally, Mayor Duterte was quoted as saying, “When you go to bed tonight, think about the Romanovs,” referring to Marcos.

“It seems as though he is saying that what happened in 19[18] could happen to [Marcos] family,” Lotoc told the impeachment court.

“So we looked at it and thought, ‘Wait, the situation seems opposite. If the Romanov issue originated with Mayor Baste, why is Princess Maui asking the Vice President about it here?’ So, it doesn't quite make sense, sir,” he added.

The information, with no corroboration from Maui, was later classified as unvalidated, according to Lotoc.

Lawyer Mark Vinluan, a member of Duterte’s defense, had already declined to confirm whether the defense would present Maui as their witness in subsequent trials. The majority of the defense’s witnesses remain confidential to date.