Tolosa: No evidence supports ‘Oplan Romanov’ claim

The alleged plot devised to kill Vice President Sara Duterte that the defense lawyers in the impeachment trial at the Senate have used to defend their client’s verbal threats was not supported by any evidence, a member of the prosecution panel said.

Atty. Jay Tolosa, a private prosecutor for the House of Representatives, explained that the lack of substance concerning “Oplan Romanov” was a matter that had already been discussed through the testimony of National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) - BARMM Regional Director Atty. Jeremy Lotoc.

“It was repeatedly tackled during the previous hearings but until now it is clear that there is no evidence that supports that there was in fact an attempt or a threat on the life of the Vice President,” Tolosa said during a press conference on Wednesday, 15 July.

The issue concerning the supposed kill plot against the Vice President was first brought to the attention of the court during the presentation of video recordings from the 23 November 2024 press conference wherein the verbal threats were uttered.

In the said recording, Duterte said that she had supposedly contacted an unidentified individual to assassinate President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., first lady Liza Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez in the event that she was killed because of “Oplan Romanov.”

However, Lotoc pointed out throughout his two day testimony that the plot was first mentioned by Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte which was then directed as a threat towards the Marcoses.

Asked to reiterate what Baste previously stated, Lotoc said, “When you go to bed tonight, think about the Romanovs.”

“He was somehow stating that it might happen to their family, like what happened back in 1986. If my memory is correct, that was what Mayor Baste said,” the official noted.

Tolosa noted that such revelations through the hearings was in some way an indication that the kill plot was not against the Vice President, and was instead meant for the President.

“So it is clear that this Romanov plot was a threat to the lives of the first family,” he said.

Further addressing notions raised by the defense that the NBI had not done its due diligence in investigating the allegations, the lawyer noted that Lotoc had mentioned that they had attempted to contact the Duterte’s to gather information but the latter did not attend the invitation.

The NBI official also previously said that a certain “Princess Maui” who was the one that raised the alleged plot during the recordings was also contacted yet similarly did not cooperate with investigators.

“They are attempting to investigate the issue. They invited the Vice President multiple times, but she did not attend to the invitation. That was why they were not given the opportunity to investigate it further,” Tolosa said.