Jonathan Frederic De Santos

Nicholas II of Russia with the family (left to right): Olga, Maria, Nicholas II, Alexandra Fyodorovna, Anastasia, Alexei, and Tatiana. Livadiya, Crimea, 1913. Portrait by the Levitsky Studio, Livadiya. Today the original photograph is held at the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia. Public domain

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<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17840314925301280px-Russian_Imperial_Family_1913.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Nicholas II of Russia with the family (left to right): Olga, Maria, Nicholas II, Alexandra Fyodorovna, Anastasia, Alexei, and Tatiana. Livadiya, Crimea, 1913. Portrait by the Levitsky Studio, Livadiya. Today the original photograph is held at the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia. <em>Public domain</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA <strong>(UPDATED) </strong>— The Romanovs — imperial Russia&#x27;s ruling dynasty until they were killed in 1918, months after the October Revolution the previous year — came up in several exchanges on Tuesday, the fifth day of Vice President Sara Duterte&#x27;s impeachment trial.</p><p>National Bureau of Investigation Regional Director Jeremy Lotoc continued his testimony on the alleged threats that Duterte made against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his relatives.</p><div><a class="fr-green" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/7/14/defense-plays-more-clips-from-2024-duterte-video-in-lotoc-cross-examination-1559"><strong>Defense plays more clips from 2024 Duterte video in Lotoc cross-examination</strong></a></div><p>He also answered questions on &quot;Operation Romanov&quot;, a supposed plot to kill Duterte and her family that the defense said is necessary context in evaluating her statements during the November 2024 online press conference.</p><p>During that Zoom call, a certain Princess Maui had asked about &quot;Operation Romanov&quot;, which led to Duterte making the remarks that the NBI considers grave threats and that have been included in the Articles of Impeachment aganst the vice president.</p><p>Lotoc said on Monday, and again on Tuesday, that the NBI had reached out to Duterte for more information on the alleged plot but did not have enough information to look further into it.</p><p>Asked by Sen. Erwin Tulfo if the NBI considers the information raised by &quot;Princess Maui&quot; reliable, Lotoc said it does not.</p><div><a class="fr-green" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/7/13/duterte-defense-team-to-present-witness-to-prove-operation-romanov-exists-1458"><strong>Duterte defense team to present witness to prove &#x27;Operation Romanov&#x27; exists</strong></a></div><p>He added that remarks that Davao City Mayor Sebastian &quot;Baste&quot; Duterte made in January 2024 came up in the NBI Cycbercrime Division&#x27;s &quot;open-source search&quot; to find out more about the alleged &quot;Operation Romanov&quot;.</p><p>Speaking at what was billed as a prayer rally, Mayor Duterte said in comments meant for Marcos Jr. that “<a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/4/29/vp-duterte-s-designated-survivor-remark-raised-in-house-hearing-1510">[f]rom now on, before you go to bed, think of the Romanovs. </a>Think of Benito Mussolini and his wife, and think of what happened to you in 1986 and maybe you’ll reconsider the direction that you are taking.”</p><p>Mussolini and his mistress were executed by Italian partisans in April 1945.</p><p>Mayor Duterte&#x27;s remarks about the Romanovs were “definitely against the president and his family,” Lotoc also said.</p><p>Senator-judges and <a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/7/13/palace-blasts-baste-says-davao-mayor-spreading-falsehood-1739">the Palace</a> have in recent days raised that the Dutertes were the first to reference the Romanovs.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>ALAN CAYETANO: &#x27;ROMANOV&#x27; MENTION WAS NOT A THREAT</strong></div><p>In a manifestation, Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano cautioned against making conclusions that Mayor Duterte&#x27;s remarks were meant as a threat to the Marcoses.</p><p>He said that, in his view, Mayor Duterte&#x27;s statement for Marcos to &quot;remember the Romanovs&quot; was meant to draw a parallel between the Russian dynasty and Ferdinand Marcos Sr., who &quot;were evicted via a revolution.&quot;</p><p>He noted that the Marcoses managed to flee to Hawaii in 1986 and eventually return to Philippine politics.</p><p>&quot;&#x27;Yung Romanovs, inubos sila para nga hindi na makabalik (The Romanovs were executed so they could not return to power).&quot;   </p><div><a class="fr-green" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/7/14/-typos-do-not-alter-fact-that-vp-sara-duterte-made-alleged-threats-nbi-exec-1653"><strong>&#x27;Typos&#x27; do not alter fact that VP Sara Duterte made alleged threats: NBI exec</strong><br/></a></div><p>Cayetano said that if the government viewed Mayor Duterte&#x27;s remarks as a threat, then authorities would have filed a case against him by now.</p><p>&quot;Dapat na-offend si Senator-Judge Imee Marcos because she is a Marcos,&quot; he also said, referring to the president&#x27;s sister, who has been a vocal Duterte ally.</p><p>(Then Senator-Judge Imee Marcos should have been offended because she is a Marcos.)</p><p>He said the impeachment court, and the public, should be &quot;circumspect&quot; about making conclusions that it was meant as a threat,</p><p>&quot;For all we know, narinig ni Mayor Baste na sila ang iro-Romanov kaya binanggit niya pabalik. We don&#x27;t know,&quot; he said.</p><p>(For all we know, Mayor Baste may have heard they would be treated like the Romanovs so threw it back at them. We don&#x27;t know.)</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>PADILLA SHARES OWN TAKE</strong></div><p>Later in the trial, Sen. Robinhood Padilla shared his own interpretation of the Romanovs remark, saying Mayor Duterte was talking about a threat to their family.</p><p>He asked Lotoc about the Romanovs, with the lawyer saying only that he believes the reference was to what happened to the Russian tsar and his family.</p><p>&quot;Sino po ba yung nakalaban nung tsar (Who did the tsar come up against)?&quot; he pressed, before saying that Marcos Sr. was the &quot;number one&quot; enemy of communists in the Philippines.</p><p>&quot;Batid naman din po natin na ang nag-execute sa tsar, kay Nikolai at kanyang mga anak, sa kanyang pamilya ay ang komunista,&quot; he also said.</p><p>(We also know that it was the communists who executed Tsar Nikolai and his children, his family, were the communists.)</p><div><a class="fr-green" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/7/14/robin-padilla-grills-lotoc-on-promotions-operation-romanov-1805"><strong>Robin Padilla grills Lotoc on promotions, ‘Operation Romanov’</strong><br/></a></div><p>He then said that former President Rodrigo Duterte was &quot;the second&quot; president to fight the communists with Vice President Duterte continuing that fght when she was co-vice chairperson of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.</p><p>&quot;Hindi ba po dapat isipin natin na yung &#x27;Romanov&#x27; ay tungkol sa threat na pumapasok sa mga pamilya ng mga namumuno sa ating bayan na lumalaban sa mga komunista?&quot;</p><p>(Shouldn&#x27;t we consider that the &#x27;Romanov&#x27; remark is about the threat against the families of leaders of our nation who are fighting the communists?)</p><p>Lotoc only said that &quot;in so far as the investigation&quot; on whether an &quot;Operation Romanov&quot; exists, that was up to NBI&#x27;s Intelligence Service.</p><p>The former Cybercrime Division head said NBI Director Melvin Matibag would be in a better position to answer questions on that. </p><div><a class="fr-green" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/7/14/prosecution-to-no-longer-present-lopez-bello-in-impeachment-trial-2023"><strong>Prosecution to no longer present Lopez, Bello in impeachment trial</strong></a><strong></strong><br/></div>

<p>The Romanovs — imperial Russia's ruling dynasty until they were killed in 1918, months after the October Revolution the previous year — came up in several exchanges on Tuesday, the fifth day of Vice President Sara Duterte's impeachment trial.</p>

The Romanovs — imperial Russia's ruling dynasty until they were killed in 1918, months after the October Revolution the previous year — came up in several exchanges on Tuesday, the fifth day of Vice President Sara Duterte's impeachment trial.

Romanovs remembered as trial touches on alleged threat vs VP Duterte

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Romanovs remembered as trial touches on alleged threat vs VP Duterte

Jonathan de Santos,

ABS-CBN News

Published July 14, 2026 09:09 PM PHT

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Updated July 14, 2026 10:12 PM PHT

Read More:

Sara Duterte

Alan Peter Cayetano

Robin Padilla

Romanovs

Impeachment trial

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