Senator-judge Robin Padilla on Tuesday, July 14 drew parallels between the fall of Russia's Romanov dynasty and the Duterte family as he questioned a National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) official during the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

Questioning NBI Regional Director Jeremy Lotoc, Padilla shifted the discussion to the historical background of the Romanovs, arguing that understanding the context was essential to interpreting references to "Operation Romanov" made during Duterte's controversial November 2024 press conference.

Padilla asked Lotoc whether he knew the history of the Romanovs and who was responsible for the execution of Tsar Nicholas II and his family.

Lotoc replied that he only knew the Romanovs were connected to the Russian tsar but admitted he could not recall the full historical background.

Padilla then asserted that it was communists who executed the Romanov family, before drawing a comparison with the Marcoses and the Dutertes.

"Kasi po, katabi ko ang isa sa Marcos family. Alam naman po natin lahat... si Apo Lakay Ferdinand Marcos Sr. ang number one na lumaban sa komunista dito sa Pilipinas," Padilla said.

He went on to say that former president Rodrigo Duterte was the second Philippine president to fight communists and suggested that the "Romanov" reference should be viewed as a threat against political families leading the country's anti-communist campaign.

"Komunista po ako ha (I'm a communist)," Padilla said.

"Hindi ba po dapat isipin natin yung Romanov ay tungkol sa threat na pumapasok sa mga pamilya na mga namumuno dito sa ating bayan na lumalaban sa komunista? (Shouldn’t we think of ‘Romanov’ as referring to the threat that enters the families of leaders in our country who are fighting against communists?)" Padilla asked.

Lotoc declined to adopt the senator's interpretation, saying the matter falls under the NBI's intelligence service.

"So far as the investigation on the issue of whether or not may Romanov or Operation Romanov, nasa intelligence service po namin 'yan. I think ang makakasagot po niyan ay ang director po namin (“As far as the investigation into whether or not there is a ‘Romanov’ or ‘Operation Romanov,’ that falls under our intelligence service. I think the one who can answer that is our director)," he said.

Padilla continued by arguing that Davao City Mayor Sebastian "Baste" Duterte's mention of the Romanovs should be understood in the context of threats against leaders fighting communist insurgents. He also pointed out that Vice President Duterte succeeded her father as chairperson of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

When Padilla asked whether he agreed that Sara Duterte faced similar threats because she took over the government's anti-insurgency campaign, Lotoc replied that he had no personal knowledge of the alleged threat.

"Wala po akong personal knowledge (I don't have personal knowledge), sir," he said.

Padilla then pressed Lotoc on whether he had personal knowledge that the Vice President had hired an assassin to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Lotoc maintained that he did not.

Earlier in the day's proceedings, Lotoc testified that the NBI Cybercrime Division did not consider information about the alleged "Operation Romanov" from a certain "Princess Maui" to be reliable and said the term "Romanov" appeared to have originally been used by Baste Duterte as a warning directed at President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his family, rather than at Vice President Duterte.