Mabanta arraigned on robbery extortion case
Peanut Gallery Media Network founder Franco Mabanta attends the arraignment for his robbery extortion case at the Pasig Regional Trial Court Branch 152 on Thursday, May 21, 2026. —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Peanut Gallery Media Network (PGMN) founder Franco Mabanta was arraigned on Thursday at the Pasig City Regional Trial Court’s Branch 152 in connection with the robbery extortion case filed by former House Speaker and Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez.
Mabanta and his lawyer, Bernice Piñol-Rodriguez, however, evaded the media after the proceedings. There was also no word on whether he had pleaded guilty or not guilty to the charges against him.
Romualdez had accused the PGMN founder and four of his associates of extorting P350 million from him—later reduced to P300 million—in exchange for not releasing an “exposé video” supposedly linking the lawmaker to corruption in the House of Representatives.
READ: NBI may now check Mabanta’s gadgets for other ‘extort’ ops
The Inquirer tried to contact Piñol-Rodriguez, who had yet to respond as of this writing. Romualdez, on the other hand, was represented by his legal team during the arraignment hearing.
READ: Romualdez camp: Case vs PGMN not attack vs press freedom
His spokesperson, lawyer Elaine Atienza, said that even though they cannot detail what happened during the arraignment, they are confident of winning the case. Mabanta and his coaccused were arrested in an entrapment operation on May 5. —MARY JOY SALCEDO
