PNA photo by Yancy Lim
Former National Bureau of Investigation Dir. Jaime Santiago said the alleged “Operation Romanov” referred to a supposed threat against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his family, not Vice President Sara Duterte.
Santiago headed the NBI from June 2024 to January 2025 and was in office when Duterte held an online news conference in November 2024, during which she allegedly discussed having Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and House Speaker Martin Romualdez killed if she were assassinated.
He said the term “Romanov” was first raised by Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte during a forum in January 2024, when the mayor warned Marcos to remember what happened to his family in 1986.
Santiago said the remark appeared to refer to the ouster of former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. during the People Power Revolution and was directed at the President and his family.
He expressed surprise that the term was later presented during Duterte’s online news conference as the name of an alleged operation against the vice president. He noted that Duterte herself had said it was only the second time she had heard of Romanov.
The former NBI chief said the bureau also investigated the alleged threats against Duterte but received little cooperation from her camp. He said investigators were not given enough information to identify the people supposedly behind the threat.
Santiago said he was prepared to testify before the Senate impeachment court about what he knew. NBI Regional Director Jeremy Lotoc earlier testified that investigators believed Duterte had the capacity to carry out her alleged threats against Marcos, the First Lady and Romualdez.
Duterte’s lawyers have said they will present witnesses to establish the existence of “Operation Romanov” as an alleged plot against her family. NBI Director Melvin Matibag is expected to testify on July 21 as the final witness for Article IV of the impeachment complaint.