Five suspects in the killing of Bien Unido Mayor Gisela Boniel by led the mayor’s husband Bohol Provincial Board Member Niño Rey Boniel (extreme left, face covered with towel and with a red jacket on his lap), and including who have turned witnesses (right and 2nd from right) , arrive at the Lapu-Lapu City Prosecutors Office for their inquest proceeding early this afternoon.
Lawyer warns police against arresting 2 suspects in Bohol mayor’s slay
Two other suspects in the killing of Mayor Gisela Boniel of Bien Unido town in Bohol have come out of hiding to clear their names.
But the lawyer of Wilson Hoylar, 30, and Brian Sayson, 23, warned the police against arresting them.
“But let me remind our policemen that my clients could no longer be arrested under a warrantless or hot pursuit arrest,” said lawyer Inocencio de la Cerna Jr.
“If they do so, they are courting criminal and administrative charges that I will file against them,” he warned.
De la Cerna presented Hoylar, Bien Unido human resource management officer, and Sayson, the mayor’s personal assistant, to the media on Monday to deny their involvement in the killing of Gisela.
They said they could not put the life of the mayor in danger since they owed their appointment to Gisela.
“I have much to thank Mayor Gisela for appointing me to my position. I used to be a contractual employee (Bohol tourism officer), but she personally chose me to be the human resource management officer. Do you think I can afford to expose her to danger?” said Hoylar.
Sayson said he too would feel bad if something happened to Gisela, who had appointed him to his post.
De la Cerna said the police had threatened his clients that a manhunt operation would be launched against them if they would not surrender after they were tagged as “persons of interest” by the Regional Intelligence Division (RID) for their alleged roles in Gisela’s killing.
But he added that he advised his clients to return to their work because the police could not touch them without any court order.
He described as “reckless and irresponsible” the police’s claims that Hoylar, Sayson and another client, Lobo Boniel, were fugitives from justice.
The three suspects were named respondents in the complaint for parricide filed by the police at the Lapu-Lapu City Prosecutor’s Office in Cebu for the death of Gisela.
Gisela’s husband, Bohol Provincial Board Member Niño Rey Boniel, was tagged as the principal suspect after he allegedly shot his wife and threw her body into the sea between Cebu and Bohol on June 7.
Niño, along with his cousin Riolito Boniel, driver Randel Lupas, Restituto Magoncia Jr. and Hoylar’s father, Willy, have been detained following their arrest last week.
Hoylar, Sayson, Lobo and Allan delos Reyes Jr. are not under police custody.
Of the four, only Lobo and Delos Reyes have not surfaced.
Since they were not arrested by the police early on, Hoylar, Sayson and Lobo would undergo the regular preliminary investigation where they would be asked to submit their respective counter-affidavits.
They can only be arrested once the court issues a warrant after they are indicted by the prosecutor.
Dela Cerna said he was concerned about the safety of his clients who had been tagged by the police as “at large.”
“My clients are not running away. They are here. I understand that the police are aggressive in pursuing this case. That is their right. But please do not trample upon the constitutional rights of my clients,” he added.
Divers continue to scour the seas between Bohol and Lapu-Lapu City to look for Gisela’s body.
On Monday morning, divers recovered a blanket 108 feet below the sea off Caubian Island in Lapu-Lapu City.
Supt. Elmer Lim, deputy director for administration of the Lapu-Lapu City Police Office, said they were verifying if it was the same blanket used in wrapping Gisela’s body before throwing her into the sea.
The police also had in their custody the man who fetched Niño from Punta Engaño in Lapu-Lapu City shortly after Gisela was allegedly killed.
Edgar Tapere surrendered to the police to clear his name, said Senior Supt. Jonathan Cabal, RID head.
Tapere was unavailable for comment as of Monday afternoon as the police were still preparing his sworn statement.
But Niño’s lawyer, Gerardo Carillo, in a separate interview, said that without the body of Gisela, there is no proof that the Bien Unido mayor is dead.
“There is a possibility that she is still alive,” he said.
Carillo said Gisela might just be afraid to come out because she has a huge debt. The lawyer did not elaborate.
Hoylar, who was appointed as human resource management officer of Bien Unido by Gisela, said he had nothing to do with what happened to the mayor.
Last June 6, he said he accompanied Gisela to a hearing on a cyberlibel case the latter filed against one of those who defamed her on a social networking site.
That was the last time they saw each other.
Hoylar showed documents to the prosecutor’s office to prove that he went to the Civil Service Commission after accompanying Gisela and that he was not with the mayor when she was killed.
On the same day, Gisela, accompanied by her best friend Angela Leyson and the latter’s 17-year-old son, went to Bien Unido Double Barrier Reef Dive Camp.
Hoylar denied that he asked Gisela to go to the resort to sign some documents there where she was later allegedly taken by her husband and killed.
“Truth to tell, Mayor Gisela had been staying in that resort since March 2017 (after she had a spat with her husband),” he said.
Based on the records, Hoylar said Gisela had accumulated several leaves of absence since she became mayor of Bien Unido.
“Almost every month, she would go on vacation leave. In fact, her leaves of absence were already without pay. They were no longer reflected in the payroll,” he said.
Gisela, he said, was set to take another set of vacation leaves on the following dates in 2017: June 15 to 16, 19 to 23, 26 to 31; July 3 to 6, and 11 to 14.
“There were many questions why she was always not around. She was not in the office most of the time. That is the real story. Clients were already angry,” Hoylar said.
He said Gisela was also set to sign a P13 billion worth project for the municipality but had not done it due to her continued leave of absence.
Sayson, the personal assistant of the mayor, said he too could not afford to put the life of the mayor in danger.
“Wherever she went, I was there. I prepared her speeches and facilitated everything for her. If her best friend was badly hurt when she learned that Mayor Gisel was killed, I too shared the same feeling,” he said.
In November when Gisela had not been reporting to work often, Sayson said the mayor appointed him the manager of the Bien Unido Double Barrier Reef Dive Camp.
On the night Gisela was reportedly killed, Sayson said he was sleeping with Leyson’s 17-year-old-son in a room across where Gisela and Angela stayed.
“I did not hear any commotion. What I remembered was that someone woke us up in the middle of the night as the boy went out of the room,” he said.
When he woke up in the morning of June 7, he said there were already reports that Gisela was missing.