Jeers, cheers for panel decision on Niño’s arrest

Willy Hoylar and Restituto Magoncia Jr., two of the suspects in the slay of Bien Unido Mayor Gisela Boniel, were presented to the three-man panel of prosecutors in Lapu-Lapu City during the inquest proceedings last Tuesday.
CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA

The decision of the three-man panel of prosecutors to uphold the legality of the arrest of Bohol Provincial Board Member Niño Rey Boniel was cheered and jeered by opposing camps.

Chief Supt. Noli Taliño, director of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7), said he was elated with the finding of the panel.

“I am very happy that we were able to file the case, and that the arrest we made was considered valid by the prosecutors,” he said in an interview on Wednesday.

A three-man panel of state prosecutors in Lapu-Lapu City on Tuesday deemed as “valid” the warrantless arrest made on Niño for the crime of parricide.

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.

Lawyer Handel Lagunay, one of Niño’s legal counsels, said they were disappointed by the findings of the prosecutor.

“It is but normal to be dismayed when we heard about it,” he told CDN over the phone on Wednesday.

“Well, that will become a legal issue as the case progresses,” he added.

During the inquest proceedings in Lapu-Lapu City last Tuesday, Niño’s legal team questioned the two warrantless arrests made on the board member.

Niño was earlier placed under arrest by the Bohol police upon the instructions of Senior Supt. Jonathan Cabal, head of the Regional Intelligence Division, around 10 p.m. on Wednesday, about 18 hours since Gisela was reportedly killed.

He was particularly arrested for allegedly holding captive Gisela’s best friend Angela Leyson and the latter’s 17-year-old son inside the resort in Bien Unido.

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 in relation to Leyson’s allegations.

But Judge Marivic Trabajo-Daray of the Regional Trial Court Branch 52 of Talibon town, on the same day, ordered the immediate release of Niño and his driver Randel Lupas because the police failed to file criminal complaints against the two suspects within the reglementary period of 36 hours.

The order stemmed from the petition of habeas corpus that Niño’s lawyers filed against the Bohol police, questioning the legality of the arrest of his client.

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

Granting that the period for the filing of kidnapping and illegal detention complaints had lapsed, Taliño said Niño could not be released since the board member was re-arrested on June 9, this time for killing Gisela.

Lagunay said he already informed Judge Daray about the police’s refusal to release Niño. “It’s up to the judge what to do about it,” he said.