Former House Speaker Martin Romualdez has filed a staggering 75 counts of libel against Peanut Gallery Media Network (PGMN), claiming that its historic reporting on his unprecedented levels of flood control corruption amounts to criminal defamation. For context, the floods just this August have killed 32 people and affected over 8 million Filipinos nationwide.
Ten weeks after PGMN declared war on Romualdez, the network has published 1,722 posts at breakneck speed and with undeniable impact, generating over 204 million views across all platforms—making it the most viral anti-corruption campaign against a single person in the history of Philippine social media.
In his affidavit against PGMN Founder and CEO Franco Mabanta, Lead Anchor CJ Hirro, and others, Romualdez complained about tens of thousands of social media comments he claims were influenced by PGMN’s coverage, saying readers now “call me a thief and a ‘buwaya,’ … and celebrate what they believe is my impending imprisonment.”
Romualdez also wailed about PGMN repeatedly calling him “the most corrupt politician of the 21st century,” a “plunderer,” “Looter King,” and the mastermind of a corruption scandal. He griped that these were treated as fact instead of allegation—even though the Ombudsman itself branded him the “master plunderer”, the Sandiganbayan referenced him as the “purported mastermind”, and the official corruption figures mentioned in his landmark case to defraud the national treasury are easily the largest in modern Philippine history.
(Romualdez is also suing Mabanta for implying he has low testosterone—which is funny and cute.)
PGMN has stood defiant against Romualdez’s barrage of threats, exposing them as his desperate attempt to silence the radical young company, while he faces the most vulnerable moment of his political life.
Under Philippine law, each count of libel carries a penalty of six months and one day to four years and two months in prison, or a fine, or both. While the maximum penalties for 75 counts would total 312 years and six months on paper, the Revised Penal Code’s three‑fold rule caps the aggregate term at 40 years, meaning the ceiling here would generally be 12 years and six months if maximum penalties applied.
These theatrics come as Romualdez faces complaints before the Ombudsman for plunder, direct bribery, indirect bribery, violations of the Anti‑Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, and money laundering tied to the flood‑control kickback scheme. Investigators accuse Romualdez, ex‑Ako Bicol Rep. Zaldy Co, and others of amassing ₱56 billion in ill‑gotten wealth from 2022 to 2025 through diversion and misuse of public funds.
The recent swaths of rain have left millions of Filipinos underwater, their homes destroyed and lives lost—all because flood‑control projects meant to protect them were gutted by corruption. The budgets that should have built defenses were instead pocketed, and investigators have tied Romualdez, who even tried to flee the Philippines at least twice—one attempt illegally—directly to this plunder.
Several witnesses against Romualdez have recanted—moves the Ombudsman says were orchestrated by the lawmaker’s camp through bribes and threats. Ombudsman investigators possess a flash drive containing photographs, videos, and screen recordings tied to the payoffs. Former Marine George Villalon Jr. said witnesses were offered ₱20 million to ₱25 million by the Romualdez camp each to recant.
Political pressure on Romualdez has been devastating. President Bongbong Marcos, in his latest SONA, announced multiple cases against Romualdez are nearing filing and stressed that family ties will not shield anyone from accountability. Vice President Sara Duterte hates Romualdez with a passion—and rightfully so. Lawmakers across party lines have demanded prosecution and imprisonment for those behind flood‑control corruption.
“Franco Mabanta declared on camera and on behalf of PGMN that one-third to one-half of all of its content moving forward would be devoted to explaining my crimes to the entire country,” said Romualdez. “And that they would translate that content into every major Philippine dialect so that no Filipino would be spared the message. That is not the language of a newsroom describing its coverage. It is the language of a man describing a malevolent mission. By the admission of the very person who leads it, PGMN’s purpose…is not to inform the public about me. It is to destroy me.”
To which Franco Mabanta replied: “No, Martin. You destroyed yourself. You did this to yourself.”
