Jamaine Punzalan

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ABS-CBN News

<p>MANILA — The camp of former Speaker Martin Romualdez said Thursday that Franco Mabanta’s Peanut Gallery Media Network (PGMN) was “twisting the narrative” in his<a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/5/6/social-media-personality-nabbed-over-alleged-extortion-attempt-0809"> arrest for alleged extortion.</a></p><p>The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) arrested Mabanta and four others for allegedly attempting to extort P300 million from Romualdez in exchange for not releasing content on his platform linking the former Speaker to flood control anomalies. PGMN denied the accusations and claimed the arrest was a “setup.” </p><p>“PGMN is twisting the narrative,” said Romualdez’s spokesperson Elaine Atienza. </p><p>“Ang isyu dito ay hindi tungkol sa malayang pamamahayag. Lalong hindi ito tungkol sa karapatan ng sinuman na punahin ang gobyerno. Ang tunay na tanong: may humingi ba ng pera kapalit ng katahimikan?” she said. </p><p>Atienza said whatever materials or exposés that PGMN claimed to possess were “irrelevant to the criminal allegations of extortion now under investigation.”</p><p>“If anyone believes he has evidence of wrongdoing by public officials, the proper course is simple: release it, submit it to the authorities, and let the proper institutions act on it — not use it as leverage in exchange for money,” Romualdez’s spokesperson said. </p><p>“That is what PGMN did: they purportedly produced a video that was allegedly ready to run several weeks ago and yet chose not to release it. That is NOT journalism, that is extortion,” Atienza said. </p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/5/6/social-media-personality-nabbed-over-alleged-extortion-attempt-0809">Palace denies Marcos and Mabanta are friends </a></div><p>She alleged that PGMN’s action “undermines legitimate journalism and damages public trust in genuine media institutions.”</p><p>“Simple lang po ito: Sa demokrasya, malayang pumuna. Pero malinaw po sa ating batas: Isang krimen ang pangingikil,” Atienza said.  </p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/people-culture-events/2026/5/6/from-vj-to-media-executive-who-is-franco-mabanta-1557">From VJ to media executive: Who is Franco Mabanta? </a></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BrOSzXiRePY?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>The camp of former Speaker Martin Romualdez said Thursday that Franco Mabanta’s Peanut Gallery Media Network (PGMN) was “twisting the narrative” in his arrest for alleged extortion.</p>

The camp of former Speaker Martin Romualdez said Thursday that Franco Mabanta’s Peanut Gallery Media Network (PGMN) was “twisting the narrative” in his arrest for alleged extortion.

Romualdez camp says Franco Mabanta’s Peanut Gallery ‘twisting narrative’ on arrest

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Romualdez camp says Franco Mabanta’s Peanut Gallery ‘twisting narrative’ on arrest

ABS-CBN News

Published May 07, 2026 04:19 PM PHT

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Updated May 07, 2026 05:07 PM PHT

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Romualdez

Peanut Gallery

Franco Mabanta

arrest

extortion

flood control

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