Mikey wants to assist guard beaten up by lawmaker

MANILA, Philippines -  Ang Galing Pinoy party-list Rep. Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo, whose group represents security guards and tricycle drivers, said yesterday he is willing to give legal assistance to the security guard allegedly beaten up by a lawmaker at a commercial complex in Quezon City last week.

Lanao del Sur Rep. Hussein Pangandaman was accused by Ricardo Bonayog, a security guard at the UP-Ayala Technohub, of beating him up at the parking lot of the commercial complex last Aug. 31.

“My office is always open for those who would seek my help,” Arroyo said in a text message.

He said he was in Cebu to assist families of two security guards killed in a recent bank robbery.

Arroyo said he already instructed his staff to secure an official police report on the incident.

According to the blotter of the police station, Bonayog said he was on duty at the parking lot of the complex when he saw a silver Porsche Carrera with protocol plate number “8” that is reserved for members of the House of Representatives, followed by a red Toyota Innova with plate number PCI-150.

He said Pangandaman was irked for some unknown reason and boxed him several times until he fell to the ground in the presence of some witnesses.

The lawmaker, however, strongly denied the guard’s allegation and vowed to file a harassment complaint against Bonayog. He claimed Bonayog drew a gun on him when he asked about available parking slots and he “tried to stop him and hit him with a bunch of documents I was holding.”