Palace: 'Oplan Romanov' claim unsubstantiated by VP's camp

Malacañang on Thursday said the alleged "Operation Romanov" assassination plot, which was floated by Vice President Sara Duterte, has yet to be substantiated with evidence from her camp. Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Atty. Claire Castro stated that it was the Vice President who initially brought up the supposed plot, and therefore, it is her who should provide evidence, not the Palace. "First of all, who mentioned Oplan Romanov? Wasn't it in the Vice President's party? Shouldn't she be the one to provide evidence about it and not the Palace?" Castro said. Castro highlighted that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) had offered the Vice President an opportunity to share information regarding the alleged threats to her and her family's lives, but no response was received. She emphasized that without any evidence, no investigation could proceed. "It's not anyone's fault if there won't be any existence of the so-called Oplan Romanov because the Vice President herself said it can't be proven," the Palace official said. "So, what will the Executive do if there is nothing to investigate because the accuser is not giving any details regarding Oplan Romanov." NBI Senior Agent Mark Calilung, a witness for the prosecution in the impeachment trial of Duterte, also testified on Wednesday that Duterte and one of her allies, identified as Princess Maui, failed to appear before the NBI to substantiate their claims of an alleged plot to kill the Vice President and her family. Calilung made the statement in response to a question from senator-judge Alan Peter Cayetano on whether Princess Maui complied with the NBI's invitation to provide details about the alleged assassination plot against the Duterte family, allegedly called "Operation Romanov." During the trial, defense counsel Mark Vinluan maintained that the alleged plot is "real," arguing that it was the reason Duterte made the statements during a November 2024 press conference in which she said she had instructed someone to kill Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez, if she herself were assassinated. "When VP Sara uttered those words, she was not responding as Sara Duterte the Vice President, but as Sara Duterte the wife, mother, daughter, and sister who only sought to protect her own life and the lives of her family members," Vinluan said. Malacañang, for its part, slammed such a justification for the supposed threats against the President. "We cannot separate her role as Vice President and as a mother. A threat is a threat. Whoever you are—, if you threaten the President's life, even if you are a mother or a Vice President—, it makes no difference. You still threatened the President's life," Castro said. Not a fantasy Meanwhile, Castro also responded to the statement of former chief presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo that Duterte's controversial utterances were hypothetical and conditional. "Her statement that she contracted someone to kill the President, the First Lady, and the former House Speaker—this is not hypothetical. This actually happened. It is not a figment of the imagination, it is not a fantasy. She said that and the Vice President did not even deny it, her threat against the President's life," Castro said. "So, we are not discussing a hypothetical scenario. It is not hypothetical because the Vice President herself said, 'No joke, no joke,'" she added. Duterte's "kill" remark was made in a virtual media conference in November 2024—a video which has been presented by the prosecution as evidence in the impeachment trial. The Vice President is facing impeachment charges over allegations of culpable violation of the Constitution, graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust, bribery, and other high crimes. — VDV, GMA News