Out of fear, security guard won’t pursue charges vs solon

The security guard who was allegedly mauled by a congressman last week will not be pursuing charges against the lawmaker from Mindanao anymore out of fear for his own life. On Wednesday, security guard Ricardo Bonayog was supposed to file a complaint against Lanao del Sur Rep. Mohammed Hussein Pangandaman before the Commission on Human Rights, but he chose not to show up, saying he did not want to "go against" a politician. "Natatakot po ako kasi ang nakabangga ka po ay malaking tao po. Mayroon hong katungkulan po sa gobyerno. Simpleng tao lang po ako," Bonayog said in a phone interview with reporters. Nonetheless, Bonayog appealed Pangandaman to issue an apology for the incident. "Mas maganda po sana kung mag-sorry po si Congressman Pangandaman po," he said. In refusing to file a complaint against the lawmaker, Bonayog said he was not threatened by Pangandaman's camp in doing so. "Gusto ko na lang pong manahimik… Pinapatawad ko na po siya [Pangandaman]," he said. Pangandaman earlier denied that he mauled the guard at the UP-Ayala Land Technohub in Quezon City last Wednesday. He said he only hit Bonayog with rolled-up pieces of paper when the security guard was in the act of drawing his firearm. Bonayog, however, maintained that the congressman, who was also embroiled in a mauling incident at a golf course in 2009, punched him twice in the face while he was on duty. "Ang totoo po, sinuntok po niya ako ng dalawang beses sa may mukha po… sa may malapit po sa tainga," he said. On Tuesday, both the House of Representatives and the Quezon City Police District said that they cannot act on Bonayog’s claim that he was punched by a congressman without a formal complaint from the security guard. — RSJ, GMA News