SEN. Alan Peter Cayetano called on his fellow senators Tuesday to exercise restraint when interpreting the context of statements in the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte.
Cayetano made the manifestation after former National Bureau of Investigation Cybercrime Division chief Jeremy Lotoc testified that investigators traced the use of the term "Romanov" to Davao City Mayor Sebastian "Baste" Duterte.
Lotoc's testimony referred to remarks made by Mayor Duterte during a rally in January 2024, when he addressed President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., saying: "From now on, before you go to bed, think of the Romanovs, think of Benito Mussolini and his wife, think of what happened to you in 1986."
In July 1918, the Romanov family — Tsar Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra, their five children and four loyal attendants — were taken to the basement of a house in Yekaterinburg and executed by a Bolshevik firing squad during the Russian Civil War.
Their bodies were secretly buried and concealed for decades, fueling rumors that some family members had survived.
Later investigations and DNA testing confirmed the identities of the Romanov remains, bringing historical certainty to one of the most tragic episodes in Russian history.
Based on Lotoc's testimony, Sen. Panfilo Lacson said the alleged "Operation Romanov" — which the vice president's legal team had earlier described as a plot against her — was instead a threat to the president and his family.
Cayetano cautioned against characterizing Mayor Duterte's statement as a threat without first considering its context.
"It is fair to mention it because it is relevant," Cayetano said. "But if he (Mayor Duterte) were making that threat that you will be treated like the Romanovs, then the Presidential Security Command would've filed a case against Baste."
"In the same manner that we have to be fair to the First Family, we have to be fair also to Mayor Baste and to the Dutertes," he added.
Cayetano said Mayor Duterte's remarks could instead be viewed as a historical warning, drawing a parallel between the fate of Russia's Romanov dynasty and the Marcos family after the 1986 People Power Revolution.
"I'm not close to VP Sara. I'm not close to Mayor Baste," Cayetano said. "But my reading of what Mayor Baste said is, 'If you sleep at night, remember what happened to the Romanovs.'"
"There's a thin line between a warning and a threat," he added.
Cayetano said it remains uncertain whether Mayor Duterte's "Romanov" remark and the alleged "Operation Romanov" cited by the vice president's camp referred to the same thing.
"For all we know, Mayor Baste heard that they will be likened to the Romanovs, and so he said it back. We don't know. So let's just be circumspect and careful about making conclusions," he added.