Martin Romualdez, the congressman representing Leyte’s First District, may be out of the loop now because another colleague is seated in his Speaker’s chair in the House of Representatives, but in reality he still wields considerable power on a national scale.
When Bodjie Dy assumed the speakership, many believe with good reason that it was Martin who still held the gavel.
Romualdez is again hogging the limelight these days because he or his representatives went to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to complain about an alleged extortion case costing P300 million, against one Franco Mabanta who is popular in the high society of Philippine politics. He was supported to be a social media expert and a master of crisis PR.
How Franco himself is in crisis. And he, his staff in Peanut Gallery Media Network, and presenters or anchors are ranged against the wily Martin Romualdez.
If deviousness had a face, it would be Martin R.
Franco has been charged by the NBI of extorting P300 M from Romualdez, allegedly in exchange for not airing in his website a video on flood control irregularities that would sully the reputation of the former speaker of the House of Representatives (as if Martin’s reputation had anything left more to be sullied).
I do not know Franco so my doubts are actively present, and his actuations are suspect, to say the least. I can only deduce what to me is a developing truth from the words and acts of Mabanta himself.
Consider this: Ever since the Pepsi Paloma rape case of 1982, during which I was a respondent to a P2-million libel case filed by Vic Sotto, Joey de Leon and Richie d’ Horsie because I scooped every newsman through my People’s Journal headliner, I have become cynical and completely incredulous of so-called celebrities (what is there to celebrate?) who overplay the part of “victims” in media controversies of their own making, and even conveniently mention their children in their defense.
Up to this day, I wonder how Keempee and Cheenee reacted then to the biggest media scandal of 1982. The same thoughts have I about Danica and Oyo Boy. I still believe very public figures should shield their kids from controversies like this, but the flamboyant Franco Mabanta did otherwise. He mentioned his desire for “my five-year-old and two-year-old sons to look back at these decisions when they’re older and see the kind of man their dad was.” Why involve the kids in this clearly just a personal adventure to achieve some gain?
The question that comes to mind presently is why Atty. Melvin Matibag, chief of the NBI, is going out of his way in helping Martin—just after the former speaker all but pointed at the Executive Department as being the chief architect of the billions of pesos in flood control corruption?
Are the Matibag couple, who are beneficiaries of millions of pesos worth of flood projects in San Pedro City from the Speaker’s largesse, doing a payback? How dutifully servile!
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