Socmed operator nabbed for extortion try on Romualdez
MANILA, Philippines — The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) arrested political content creator Franco Mabanta on Tuesday night in Pasig for allegedly extorting P300 million from former speaker Martin Romualdez.
Mabanta, the founder and chief executive officer of media startup Peanut Gallery Media Network (PGMN), was apprehended in an entrapment operation at the Valle Verde Country Club alongside four other company officials and staff – co-founder John Alexander Gomez, chief finance officer Ericson James Pacaba and employees Jardine Serrano and Franco Jose Gallardo.
The PGMN officials allegedly demanded P350 million in four tranches from Romualdez through an intermediary in exchange for burying an incriminating video against him, but after negotiations, the price was lowered to P300 million.
“They set a deadline that if the demand wasn’t settled, PGMN would release part one of the video on May 5,” John Mark Santiago, the agent on case from NBI’s Organized and Transnational Crime Division, said at a briefing yesterday. “They’ve already sent a teaser that is damaging to the complainant.”
Santiago said the exposé would have portrayed Romualdez as a “mastermind in corruption,” though it remains unclear whether this refers to the ex-speaker’s involvement in the flood control scandal.
The NBI added that initial talks between Romualdez’s camp and PGMN started last year, then stopped and restarted two weeks ago.
Undercover agents posing as Romualdez’s representatives met Mabanta on Tuesday afternoon at the Manila Peninsula Hotel in Makati. The PGMN founder instructed them to deliver the money in Pasig to a certain “Jimmy,” who turned out to be Serrano.
According to the NBI, Serrano and Gallardo received the marked money worth P75 million, stuffed into three suitcases, while the rest were waiting in a separate function room.
Mabanta served as President Marcos’ social media director in 2018, where he produced a weekly vlog for the then-presidential aspirant.
“(The) goal is to lead the greatest social media component for politics in Southeast Asian history, while only speaking truth and without playing dirty,” Mabanta posted on Facebook in 2018.
“In Bongbong Marcos, we have the kind of human being that deserves the very best. That’s what he’ll get,” he added.
At a press briefing in Cebu, Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro denied Marcos’ association with Mabanta.
“He is not a friend of the President,” Castro stressed.
The Palace press officer then showed pictures of Mabanta with both former president Rodrigo Duterte and Vice President Sara Duterte.
“You may want to ask what is his relationship to the Dutertes,” Castro added.
In a statement penned before his arrest and released on PGMN’s social media accounts, Mabanta wrote that he knew the dangers of exposing Romualdez’s alleged corruption scheme.- Helen Flores
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