Peanut Gallery Media Network lead anchor Cj Hirro has appeared before the prosecutor in connection with cyberlibel complaints filed by former Quezon City 4th District congressman Marvin Rillo, following a series of PGMN investigative reports examining the use of public funds in his district.
The complaints stem from Hirro’s reports on the unfinished two-storey multipurpose building at Carlos L. Albert High School. The project began in March 2023 but remained incomplete two years later, with only foundations and posts visible despite a cost exceeding ₱71 million. The Department of Public Works and Highways said the amount covered only the first phase of a supposed three-phase project with a total projected cost of ₱225 million.
Hirro reported that neither the bidding documents nor the project billboard disclosed that the project was phased, and that no budgets for the subsequent phases were ever endorsed by Rillo. The same bidding documents listed items such as doors, windows, tiles, and ceiling reinforcements—consistent with a completed structure rather than partial works.
Rillo publicly repeated the DPWH explanation and said much of the cost went to piling due to soil conditions. Hirro countered that a four-storey classroom building on the same school grounds had been completed at a significantly lower cost without extensive piling, raising further questions about the expenditure. The reports generated more than 10 million views across PGMN platforms. Citizens Crime Watch had earlier filed a malversation complaint against Rillo before the Office of the Ombudsman in connection with the unfinished project.
Instead of addressing the substance of the reports, Rillo’s camp dismissed them as false and labeled Hirro a paid propagandist. Through one of his campaign operators, Jesus Falcis, Rillo’s team threatened to file cyberlibel cases against the journalist and PGMN. Hirro responded by challenging Rillo to a live public debate to explain the spending line by line, an offer he declined.
PGMN subsequently aired additional episodes, including one on the made-up video testimony of Kevin “Angel” Roissing, a fake witness who alleged an attempted smear campaign by media networks against Rillo, purportedly by his electoral rival, Bong Suntay. The witness recanted shortly after the video was released online and claimed she was pressured by Rillo’s operators, including Jesus Falcis, to fabricate statements. Also featured in other episodes were complaints from fire victims in Barangay Obrero who accused Rillo of withholding assistance, and a whistleblower allegation that the disgraced congressman collected up to a 30 percent commission on the district’s infrastructure projects.
The controversy became a central issue in the Quezon City 4th District race. Rillo lost his congressional seat to Suntay by 234 votes out of more than 183,000 cast. His name later resurfaced during congressional and Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearings on anomalous flood-control projects, after contractor Curlee Discaya, in detailed testimony, alleged that Rillo and his aide Romeo “Bogs” Magalong personally picked up kickback money from their office—claims Rillo has denied. Rillo has never filed a complaint against the Discayas over the allegations he said were false.
