Susan’s Notes
By Susan Palmes-Dennis
ROCKINGHAM, North Carolina—It’s still a full year away until the Philippine election season and yet, ancillary events tied to the 2028 race are occuring at an interesting pace.
I checked on my social media feed and my curiousity got piqued with comments by former colleagues in local media based in Cagayan de Oro City about this Franco Cruz Mabanta, founder of the so-called Peanut Gallery Media Network (PGMN) who got caught in an entrapment operation by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on extortion charges.
Sure enough, after some digging online I read that Mabanta and another PGMN anchor, CJ Hirro, stand accused of allegedly trying to extort P350 million from former House Speaker Martin Romualdez after they threatened to expose the congressman’s alleged ties to the multi-million peso flood control project corruption long after Romualdez relinquished his post as House Speaker.
As a former traditional media practitioner (ahem) with years of actual work experience in print (writing for several local publications before being a columnist), broadcast (radio and TV) and even maintaining an online presence (Susan Live at RPN TV-5) I can speak with some authority on the Mabanta case. Despite my semi-retirement, I’ve been around and will continue to touch base with my professional roots in media.
I agree with the prevailing sentiment by most of my former media colleagues that the Mabanta case is not a reflection nor does it impact on the country’s media industry. In fact it only serves to highlight the crucial differences between those who adhere to the highest ethical standards of professionalism set by those committed to the tenets of journalism and those who claim to be real journalists by virtue of their own media platform.
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In my previous column, I wrote about developments in impeachment moves against Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio and Franco Mabanta is an identified DDS or Duterte Diehard Supporter. But curiously enough, Mabanta didn’t start out that way and was a different personality altogether though the elements and traits that would propel him to where he was before he came crashing down hard were evident early back then.
Based on some online research I learned that Mabanta was a former commercial model and showbiz personality who later became a political operator formerly identified as a supporter of then vice president Leni Robredo that transitioned into a DDS. And like any vocal and loyal DDS, Mabanta was part of the gaggle of online trolls that campaigned for the former Marcos-Sara alliance before said alliance crumbled due to Romualdez’s 2028 ambitions.
What Mabanta and another PGMN personality, CJ Hirro, are accused of doing is nothing new to anyone who worked in the Philippine media industry. When I was active in the local media industry in Cagayan de Oro, I’ve encountered my fair share of media hacks that engaged in AC-DC (attack collect, defend collect) in radio, TV and print. I can name names but that would be digging up old graves that don’t need digging if you know what I mean.
It’s enough to say that these AC-DC types are only after monetary gain for both survival and as a way of life. Some of them have become marginally successful at it and still many others were quite good at it to the chagrin of those envious of their success and the scorn of those who remain steadfast to the tenets of the journalism profession. And true enough, the AC-DCs flourished as the election season comes knocking.
The existence of these AC-DC types, some of whom would evolve into political operators like Mabanta is substantial enough that anyone wishing to run for public office in the country would have to set aside a large budget to keep them on payroll. And the 2022 and 2025 election seasons were no exception to that political reality. Mabanta rode high on the crest of that wave before that fateful chain of events that led to his arrest and downfall this year.
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What’s both weird and funny about the Mabanta arrest was Mabanta’s contention that they were set up by the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) because they have this ‘explosive expose’ that would prove Romualdez’s guilt and involvement in the graft ridden multi-billion peso flood control project scandals. Well, duh, that’s why it’s called an entrapment operation in the first place by the NBI.
As to whether Mabanta and his cohorts can prove their innocence against these extortion charges, only they can say with evidence. But again, what happened to him and others like him is par for the course in this country where the rot of corruption can take root and ruin lives and reputations. I’ve read about what others said of Mabanta, that he was a classic arrogant narcissist who rubbed elbows with the high and mighty before his downfall.
Who knows what happens to him and to other prominent personalities in PGMN which he founded on the premise of supposedly providing an alternative voice and platform to those unsatisfied with the current mainstream media. To be fair, there are others in PGMN that included former Makati City vice mayor Edu Manzano whose integrity and character remain intact but even they can’t be unaffected by the Mabanta association.
What should be learned from all of this by the public is for them to be able to develop sound judgement and discernment in identifying those outlets and personalities with an agenda that they may or may not support. They are certainly different from what we know to be traditional mainstream media even if they both employ an online digital presence particularly in social media. The Mabanta case is not only a cautionary tale but a wake up call to the public who remain vulnerable to the propaganda bombast, vitriol and venom discharged by paid trolls employed not only by those wishing to run in 2028 and beyond but those with insidious, malevolent motives. Such vile creatures are part of the swamp that’s been eating away at our social fiber and the Filipino people should not only drain but torch that swamp. Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone
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