Marlene Aguilar's ex-bodyguard denies involvement in Ebarle slay

The man Marlene Aguilar claimed to be the real killer of a Malacañang official's son surfaced on Monday to deny the allegation. Mark John Hauser, a British national who once worked as Aguilar's bodyguard, said he was at the Aguilar residence in Blue Ridge Subdivision in Quezon City when Renato Ebarle Jr., son of presidential undersecretary Renato Ebarle Sr., was shot dead last Nov. 18. "Yes," Hauser said when asked by GMA reporter JP Soriano if he is denying Aguilar's allegation. The interview was shown on GMA News' "24 Oras." Aguilar last week said her 28-year-old son Jason Ivler, the prime suspect in the Ebarle killing, may have been mistaken for Hauser because of their similar profile and hairstyle. She also said she did not know Hauser’s whereabouts when the crime took place.

Aguilar, wife of Asian Development Bank executive Stephen Pollard, further claimed that Hauser also had access to Ivler's room, guns, and the family's Honda CRV that was used by the suspect in the Ebarle killing. "Iyong bodyguard ko, foreigner din, kalbo din (My bodyguard, like my son, is a bald and a foreigner)," Aguilar said, adding that Hauser disappeared three weeks ago. Ivler, who was arrested last Monday after shooting it out with government agents in his mother's house, is an American citizen. According to Hauser, he had been working “on and off" with the Pollards for several years and he only knew Ivler as Aguilar’s son. He said he knew of Ivler’s bedroom at Aguilar’s house but stressed that he did not know Ivler hid there. The report said Hauser was employed by the UK-based International Bodyguard Association and was recommended by Aguilar's brother, folk singer Freddie Aguilar, to the couple. Hauser reportedly left because he could not stand Aguilar’s rules. The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), meanwhile, said it would not investigate Hauser since all their witnesses and evidence point to Ivler as the suspect in the killing. - KBK, GMANews.TV