‘VALID’ ARREST

If Bohol Provincial Board Member Niño Rey Boniel has hoped to get out of jail, it is not going to happen anytime soon.

He will have to stay longer in jail after a three-man panel of government prosecutors considered as “valid” the arrest made on the legislator for the crime of parricide.

“Our ruling was that the warrantless arrest with regard to the parricide case against the respondent was valid,” said Lapu-Lapu City Assistant Prosecutor Sheilamar Abadia in an interview yesterday.

The validity of the arrest was a major concern raised by Niño’s lawyers during the inquest proceedings — a mandatory procedure following the arrest of a person.

The Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7) on Tuesday filed parricide complaints against Niño and his eight alleged cohorts in relation to the slay of his wife, Mayor Gisela Boniel of Bien Unido town, Bohol and throwing her body into the sea last June 7.

Wearing a hooded jacket, shorts, and a face mask, Niño was escorted by policemen to the Lapu-Lapu City Prosecutor’s Office past 2 p.m. for the filing of the complaint.

Niño was reportedly not feeling well and did not give any statement to the media.

Also charged with him as his accomplices were his eight alleged cohorts — his cousin Riolito Boniel, driver Randel Lupas, Willy Hoylar, Restituto Magoncia Jr., Lubo Boniel, Allan Delos Reyes Jr., Wilson Hoylar and Brian Boniel Saycon.

Of the eight, only four were arrested with Niño: Riolito, Lupas, Willy Hoylar and Magoncia.

The rest were at large as of Tuesday.

Riolito and Lupas have been endorsed by the police as state witnesses after they pointed to Niño as the one who killed Gisela and threw the body into the water between Bien Unido in Bohol and Caubian Island in Lapu-Lapu City.

Gisela’s body has not been found yet.

When presented before the panel of prosecutors, Niño, Willy Hoylar, and Magoncia, upon the advice of their lawyers, opted to undergo a preliminary investigation, which gave them the chance to refute the allegations hurled against them.

On the other hand, Riolito and Lupas are expected to decide today whether or not to answer the accusations against them before the prosecutor.

Sensational case

The panel composed of Prosecutors Jude Henritz Ycong, Shielamar Abadia and Francis Ian Birondo gave Niño, Willy Hoylar and Magoncia five to 10 days to submit their counter-affidavits in response to the allegations.

Abadia said they will determine within 15 days from Tuesday, June 13, if there is probable cause to indict the respondents. If the panel of prosecutors will find sufficient evidence against the respondents, charges will be elevated before the Regional Trial Court. Otherwise, the complaints will be dismissed.

“We need to create a panel of prosecutors to resolve the issues because this is a sensational case. It involves a provincial board member and a mayor.

We need more brains to decide on this,” Abadia explained to reporters after the closed-door inquest proceedings that lasted for about two hours.

Abadia said Niño’s lawyers contested the jurisdiction of the Lapu-Lapu City Prosecutor’s Office over the case since Gisela may have been killed at the Bien Unido Double Barrier Reef Dive Camp, which is under the provincial prosecutor’s office of Bohol.

However, Lapu-Lapu City’s panel of prosecutors proceeded with the investigation, relying on the testimony of Riolito who was with Niño and Gisela when the latter was killed.

Riolito, in an interview, told CDN that Gisela was shot in the head by Niño while they were on board a pump boat near the islands of Caubian and Olango, which are both under the territorial jurisdiction of Lapu-Lapu City.

During the proceedings, Niño was accompanied by his legal counsels, Leilani Villarino and Gerardo Carill; and Romero Boniel, the board member’s uncle who is also a lawyer.

The three lawyer begged off from issuing any statement to the media, saying a consensus was made among themselves to refrain from giving comments in public so as not to jeopardize the investigation conducted by the prosecutors.

After the inquest proceedings, Niño was brought back to the Fuente Police Station stockade located across the PRO-7 headquarters in Cebu City, while the four other arrested suspects were placed under the custody of the Regional Special Operations Group in Central Visayas (RSOG-7).

Parricide case

Senior Supt. Jonathan Cabal, head of the Regional Intelligence Division, explained they filed a parricide case for all the respondents because they allegedly connived with Niño in killing the latter’s wife.

“Board Member Niño is the main suspect. He was actually the assailant and the mastermind at that. He killed his wife so the proper case is parricide. And since the other suspects conspired with him, hence, they should face the same charges,” he said.

PRO-7 earlier said they will file murder charges against Niño’s eight cohorts but eventually changed their mind and instead filed parricide charges against them.

Cabal said they also had to implead Riolito and Lupas in the case even if the two are being endorsed as state witnesses, saying it is part of the legal procedure.

“We have to file charges against them (Riolito and Lupas) first for them to be considered as witnesses by the court later on,” he said.

Riolito has pointed to his cousin, Niño, as the person who shot Gisela before they dumped the body to the sea last June 7. Shortly after his arrest, Niño reportedly relayed to Chief Supt. Noli Taliño, director of PRO-7, that he was part in killing Gisela. He, however, pointed to Riolito as the shooter.

“I have the audio recording of that conversation (between Board Member Niño and PRO-7 Director Taliño). In due time, once it is needed by the court, I will present it,” Cabal said.

Although Gisela’s body has yet to be recovered, Cabal believed they have a strong case against Niño and the other respondents.

“We have plenty of evidence that include the testimonies of two eye witnesses (Riolito and Lupas),” he said.

PRO-7 also submitted to the Crime Laboratory the blood stains found on the pump boat that transported Gisela’s body to the sea. The traces of blood

found on the boat were subjected to a DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) test to find out if they came from Gisela.

New witness

Niñolito Avenido, the security watchman of the Bien Unido Double Barrier Reef Dive Camp, also came forward to testify that he and another employee of the resort where sent home by Niño at around midnight of June 7.

“Niabot siya unya iya mi giingnan nga mopauli na kay naa kuno siyay tuyo sa iyang asawa. Nituman lang sab mi kay empleyado ra baya mi niya (He arrived past midnight and told us to go home because he allegedly wanted to talk to his wife. We obeyed him because we’re just his employees),” he said in an interview yesterday.

Angela Gamalinda-Leyson, Gisela’s best friend who along with her 17-year-old son was held captive inside the Bien Unido Double Barrier Reef Dive Camp, earlier attested that she was tasered by one of Niño’s cohorts. But before she lost consciousness, she saw the board member punched Gisela.

When she gained consciousness, she and her son were forced into a car and driven by Lupas to the neighboring Tubigon town and were warned against telling the police about the incident.

Fearing the worst for Gisela, Leyson sought the help of the Lapu-Lapu City police upon her arrival in Cebu from Tubigon. Her worst fear came to pass when she learned that Gisela went missing and was feared dead.

Cabal said now is the time for the other suspects to talk and those on the run to surrender. “If they are indeed innocent, why don’t they show themselves up? They should surface if they are not guilty,” he said.

During the inquest proceedings, Niño’s legal team questioned the two warrantless arrests made on the board member.

Niño was placed under arrest by the Bohol police upon the instructions of Cabal at around 10 p.m. on Wednesday, about 18 hours after Gisela was reportedly killed.

At around 4 p.m. last Friday, the police filed two counts of kidnapping and serious illegal detention complaints against Niño at the Bohol Provincial Prosecutor’s Office with Leyson and her son as complainants.

But Talibon, Bohol Regional Trial Court Branch 52 Judge Marivic Trabajo-Daray, on the same day, ordered the immediate release of Niño and Lupas, finding merit in the petition for a writ of habeas corpus filed by Niño’s lawyers, because the police failed to file criminal complaints against the two suspects within the reglementary period of 36 hours.

The police, however, refused to obey the court order, saying they filed the first batch of criminal case against Niño on time.

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