Cheyenne Suarez

Contributors, not employees: Edu Manzano, Ann Cuisia clarify ties with Franco Mabanta's PGMN

Article (news)

ABS-CBN News

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1778659986054edu.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Edu Manzano and Ann Cuisia. Manzano/Facebook"/>Edu Manzano and Ann Cuisia. Manzano/Facebook </div>Host Edu Manzano and tech CEO Ann Cuisia took to social media to clarify their ties with Peanut Gallery Media Network (PGMN) amid the controversy faced by its founder, <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/people-culture-events/2026/5/6/from-vj-to-media-executive-who-is-franco-mabanta-1557">Franco Mabanta.</a> The two have been identified as PGMN&#x27;s anchors, with the online media startup even <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/people-culture-events/2026/3/12/edu-manzano-finds-new-love-in-tech-ceo-ann-cuisia-1557">announcing their romantic relationship</a> back in March. But in a joint statement released on Wednesday, May 13, Manzano and Cuisia made it clear that they are &quot;volunteer content creators&quot; and not employees of PGMN.They said they offered to contribute to PGMN without any compensation because they believed in its &quot;platform for free speech.&quot;&quot;We were volunteer content contributors, not journalists. We were not employees. We had no contracts, no salary, no talent fee, and no commercial arrangement,&quot; the statement read. &quot;We gave our time, voices, and content because we believed Filipinos should be able to speak, question, and take part in public discourse without fear,&quot; it added. &quot;For us, this was responsible civic engagement.&quot;<a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/5/6/social-media-personality-nabbed-over-alleged-extortion-attempt-0809">Mabanta was arrested last May 5</a> along with four others for allegedly extorting P300 million from former House Speaker Martin Romualdez. This was supposedly in exchange for not releasing an <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/pageants-beauty-queens/2026/5/12/from-beauty-queen-to-pgmn-anchor-who-is-cj-hirro-1202">exposé on the lawmaker&#x27;s involvement in flood control projects</a>, which a University of the Philippines professor deemed <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/5/11/supposedly-explosive-pgmni-video-a-total-waste-of-time-journalism-prof-1542">&quot;a total waste of time&quot;</a> as it did not uncover anything new.Mabanta and the four other accused individuals <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/5/9/franco-mabanta-posts-bail-1337">have since posted bail.</a>As controversy continues to hound PGMN and its founder, Manzano and Cuisia felt the need to &quot;clarify our role and where we stand.&quot;&quot;We are not issuing this statement to judge, condemn or throw anyone under the bus. Matters of guilt or innocence belong to the proper legal process,&quot; they said. &quot;We speak only for ourselves, in defense of our own character, credibility and sincere desire to help our country in whatever way we can.&quot;Read the full statement below:<div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FEduManzanoOfficial%2Fposts%2Fpfbid0NhDGdLsxXizTpyysDz7oTKUkUeQtWiMZuAboYCWLyMpRbH98QaiLhMkrS3jwcAY5l&amp;show_text=true&amp;width=500" width="500" height="698" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>

Host Edu Manzano and tech CEO Ann Cuisia have released a joint statement to clarify their ties with Peanut Gallery Media Network amid the controversy faced by its founder, Franco Mabanta.

Host Edu Manzano and tech CEO Ann Cuisia have released a joint statement to clarify their ties with Peanut Gallery Media Network amid the controversy faced by its founder, Franco Mabanta.