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Franco Mabanta denies involvement in alleged robbery-extortion on Romualdez
Online media network founder Franco Mabanta on Wednesday denied being involved in an alleged robbery by extortion try on former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
"It's not true, it's definitely not true," Mabanta told the reporters following his arrest.
He also noted that he hasn't seen the comments or posts on social media as he doesn't have his phone.
"Talk to my lawyer," Mabanta also said.
Hours after the arrest, Peanut Gallery Media Network released a statement on social media denying the allegations and claiming the case was politically motivated.
In the post, PGMN said its founder Franco Mabanta and his group were “innocent” and described the arrest as a “setup.”
“We are innocent. This was a setup,” the statement read.
PGMN claimed it had spent the past several months preparing what it described as a “comprehensive” exposé on alleged corruption involving Romualdez and said the group was preparing to release a 90-minute video.
“The episode was filmed several weeks ago. It has been fully edited — it is 90 minutes-long, packed with hard evidence, and ready for release,” the statement said.
The group denied committing extortion and rejected the allegations raised by the National Bureau of Investigation.
“There was no extortion. There were ZERO threats from us,” the post read.
PGMN further alleged that the complaint was meant to silence the group before publication of its planned exposé.
“Romualdez did this to silence us,” the statement said.
The group also claimed it had received warnings before the arrest and said its legal team had been instructed to release the video should anything happen to its members.
GMA News Online has reached out to Romualdez's camp for comment and will publish it as soon as it is available.
Entrapment operation
Mabanta and four others were arrested by operatives of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in an entrapment operation, NBI Director Melvin Matibag said Wednesday.
They will face charges of robbery by extortion in relation to alleged violations of the Cybercrime Prevention Act following an entrapment operation linked to an alleged P300-million payoff demand involving Romualdez, the NBI said.
The NBI chief also said the alleged extortion scheme involved threats to release videos supposedly damaging to the complainant if payment demands were not met.
“May 5 magre-release sila ng part one ng video,” Matibag said.
(They planned to release part one of the video on May 5.)
According to the NBI, initial negotiations allegedly began around a year ago but resurfaced two weeks ago through a representative of the complainant, with the amount allegedly ballooning to P350 million before settling at a supposed “take it or leave it” demand of P300 million.
“Kasi a year ago, mababa lang ang amount. Pero through the representative of the complainant two weeks ago, it ballooned to P350 million,” Matibag said.
(A year ago, the amount being discussed was smaller. But through the complainant’s representative two weeks ago, it ballooned to P350 million.)
Mabanta is one of the founders of PGMN, a digital media platform launched in 2024 that produces political commentary and online content.
READ: EXPLAINER: Who is Franco Mabanta?
—KG/RSJ, GMA News
