By Benjamin Cuaresma
MANILA — The Senate impeachment court on Tuesday scrutinized the National Bureau of Investigation’s handling of alleged threats against both President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte, with senators questioning why Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte’s “Romanov” remarks were not included in the agency’s investigation.
NBI Cybercrime Division chief Jeremy Lotoc defended the bureau’s findings, saying investigators found a clear distinction between the two cases.
According to Lotoc, the alleged threats made by Vice President Duterte during her Nov. 23, 2024 online press conference were directly supported by authenticated video evidence and witness testimony.
“The grave threat uttered by the Vice President was apparent. It was captured on video, authenticated, and corroborated by witnesses with personal knowledge,” Lotoc told the impeachment court.
By contrast, he said the NBI found no comparable evidence to substantiate claims that the Vice President herself was under an imminent threat.
Lotoc explained that while the NBI has authority to investigate threats against the President, Vice President and other top officials, the Cybercrime Division did not obtain sufficient information to justify opening a similar criminal case involving alleged threats against Duterte.
He added that the bureau’s Intelligence Service continues to monitor any information that could validate such allegations.
Senator-Judge Joel Villanueva stressed that law enforcement should demonstrate fairness by giving the same level of attention to alleged threats against both the President and the Vice President.
Lotoc agreed but maintained that the available evidence differed significantly between the two situations.
The hearing then shifted to the controversial “Operation Romanov” issue.
Senator-Judge Panfilo Lacson questioned why Mayor Baste Duterte’s speech, in which he told the First Family to “think about the Romanovs,” was not included in the NBI’s open-source investigation despite being publicly available.
Lotoc admitted that the speech was not incorporated into the bureau’s affidavit or investigation report because investigators were initially focused on statements linking “Operation Romanov” to alleged threats against Vice President Duterte.
Pressed further by Lacson, Lotoc conceded that investigators only realized during Tuesday’s hearing that the “Romanov” reference had actually originated from Mayor Duterte’s remarks directed at the First Family.
“Yes, Your Honor,” Lotoc replied when asked whether the NBI had only now recognized that the Romanov reference was originally aimed at the First Family.
Senator-Judge Alan Peter Cayetano later clarified that each senator-judge would independently assess the evidence presented during the impeachment proceedings, as the cross-examination of the NBI witness continued.
ia/xf
