MANILA, Philippines — The National Bureau of Investigation said Friday that it had summoned Camille Jensen Hirro for questioning in connection with the extortion complaint filed by former Speaker Martin Romualdez against Peanut Gallery Media Network founder Franco Mabanta and four others.
NBI Director Melvin Matibag said Hirro was identified as a person of interest after she appeared in a video clip allegedly sent to Romualdez. Authorities said the clip served as a teaser for a PGMN report alleging corruption involving the former speaker. Investigators alleged that Mabanta initially demanded P350 million from Romualdez in exchange for withholding the report.
Bernice Piñol Rodriguez, legal counsel for Mabanta, said Hirro was not included as a respondent in the complaint. She described Hirro as “a journalist with credibility and integrity.”
Hirro joined PGMN in 2024 as an anchor and commentator. She graduated cum laude in communications arts from the University of the Philippines College of Media and Communications in 2009. She also joined the Miss Global Philippines 2016 pageant and represented the country in the Miss Global 2016 competition, where she finished first runner-up.
The NBI subpoena directed Hirro to appear before the agency’s Organized and Transnational Crimes Division on May 11 to provide information related to the extortion investigation.
Authorities arrested Mabanta and four others on Tuesday evening during an entrapment operation at Valle Verde Country Club. NBI agents posing as Romualdez representatives delivered three suitcases containing an alleged P75 million payoff, which authorities said represented the first installment of a supposed P300 million agreement.
Former Election Commissioner Rowena Guanzon questioned on social media how Romualdez could produce P75 million in cash after the Court of Appeals froze his assets in connection with an investigation into alleged flood control anomalies.
Matibag said Romualdez did not provide actual cash for the operation. He said only P50,000 of the amount consisted of real money sourced from the NBI’s confidential funds, while the remaining bills were counterfeit training money mixed with the genuine bills for the entrapment operation.
Matibag defended the operation and criticized commentary on social media regarding the legality of the setup.
Mabanta denied the extortion allegation after his arrest, saying, “How can we extort when they were the ones who came to us.”
Rodriguez said the defense team believed the complaint against Mabanta and his coaccused would be dismissed. She added that a group of lawyers from several law firms had been assembled to handle the case.
