The Pasig Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 167 has ordered the release of Peanut Gallery Media Network (PGMN) founder Franco Mabanta and four others after they posted bail on Saturday, May 9.

In a release order, Mabanta and others posted bail of ₱120,000 each for charges of robbery by extortion in relation to the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.

The court directed the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to temporarily release Mabanta and his co-accused from the agency’s detention facility in Muntinlupa City.

The five were arrested by the NBI during an entrapment operation on May 5 over an alleged extortion scheme involving former House Speaker and Leyte Representative Martin Romualdez.

Authorities alleged that the suspects attempted to extort around ₱350 million from Romualdez in exchange for withholding the release of an allegedly incriminating video video linked to the flood control scandal.

Mabanta, however, denied the allegations against him, while PGMN maintained that the arrest was a “setup,” and insisted that no crime had been committed.