The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) arrested social media personality Franco Mabanta on charges of attempted extortion against former House Speaker and Leyte Representative Martin Romualdez.
Details of the Arrest
According to NBI Director Melvin Matibag, Mabanta—founder and chairman of Peanut Gallery Media Network (PGMN)—along with four others identified as Ericson James Pacaba, John Alexander Vasquez Gomez, Jardine Christian Serrano, and Franco Jose Gallardo, were apprehended in an entrapment operation on Tuesday, May 5, 2026.
During a press conference, Matibag revealed that negotiations began last year when Mabanta, through an intermediary, allegedly demanded P350 million from Romualdez. The amount was demanded in exchange for not releasing a "five-part exposé" linking the lawmaker to the flood control mess through his social media network.
Matibag added that the amount was later reduced to P300 million, to be paid in four tranches of P75 million each.
Entrapment Operation
He also stated that initial entrapment operations did not push through because Mabanta refused to personally receive the money.
Attorney Rehom Pimentel explained: "When the actual entrapment operation happened, the demand and the threat were consummated. The problem was that the subject did not want to personally accept the money, citing many CCTVs in the hotel area. He instructed us to bring it to another location in Pasig and have another person receive it, so we let him go, conducted tailing and surveillance, until we reached the person and address he provided."
"When we handed over the money, we still did not arrest the recipient because they were not the person we were dealing with. So we followed again until we identified the exact unit where the money was taken, and to our surprise, the subject, Franco, was also there—the same person we talked to at the hotel in Makati. That was when we declared the arrest of the subject, including other individuals apparently in conspiracy with him to facilitate extortion," he added.
Charges of robbery extortion in relation to cybercrime will be filed against the arrested suspects.
