PASG chief’s men summoned for beating up businessman

Makati police chief Senior Superintendent Gilbert Cruz asked Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG) chief Antonio Villar Jr. yesterday to have his bodyguards appear for investigation at the police station for allegedly beating up businessman in a Makati hotel last week.

Security guards at Dusit Thani Hotel have identified Villar’s bodyguards as the men who manhandled businessman Simon Lee Paz, 44, after he tried to enter a public restroom where Villar was supposed to be having a private talk with an unidentified person.

In his letter to Villar, Cruz said all security escorts who were with Villar on the night of Aug. 18 at the hotel must present themselves to shed light on the incident.

“During the investigation, security guards of Dusit Hotel who happened to be the duty guards when the (beating) happened, mentioned in their respective sworn statements that your alleged bodyguards were the ones who inflicted serious injuries to Mr. Simon Paz,” read the letter.

The hotel’s closed-circuit television camera reportedly caught the incident on tape, but the assailants have not been identified.   – Michael Punongbayan