Lawyer Gerry Carillo gives a copy of the commitment order issued by Judge Marivic Daray of Talibon, Bohol to Insp. Greg Ybiernas.(center) and P03 Lucito Gonzales, ordering the transfer of Bohol Provincial Board Member Niño Rey Boniel to the Bohol District Jail..
CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA
BOHOL Provincial Board Member Niño Rey Boniel will go back to Bohol and stay at the Talibon jail while awaiting trial and resolution of his kidnapping and serious illegal detention case.
Judge Marivic Trabajo-Daray of the Regional Trial Court Branch 52 in Talibon, Bohol ordered the transfer of Boniel from the Fuente Police Station stockade in Cebu City to the Bohol District Jail in Talibon town.
The board member has to stay behind bars while the charges against him are resolved by the court as the offense is non-bailable and carries a sentence of reclusion perpetua to death.
Niño’s lawyer Gerardo Carillo said the police were given 72 hours from receipt of the commitment order from the court to bring Boniel to Bohol.
He personally brought a copy of the commitment order to the Fuente Police Station past 3 p.m. on Thursday.
“The police have to heed the court order,” Carillo said.
Niño, however, may likely be shipped back to Bohol only after he submits his counter-affidavit on the parricide case filed against him at the Lapu-Lapu City Prosecutor’s Office, which Carillo said they will do on Friday.
Senior Insp. Reslyn Abella, spokesperson of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7), said they will obey the court’s order and bring Niño back to Bohol.
“We will abide by the commitment order. We will provide him with the necessary security while being transported to the Bohol jail,” she said in an interview.
Niño is the primary suspect in the slay of his wife, Bien Unido Mayor Gisela Boniel.
He was also indicted by the Bohol Provincial Prosecutor’s Office on charges of kidnapping and serious illegal detention for allegedly holding captive his wife’s best friend Angela Gamalinda-Leyson and her 17-year-old son inside the Bien Unido Double Barrier Resort and Dive Camp last June 7.
Meanwhile, divers continue to scour the seas, but Gisela’s body has yet to be found.
Niño and his eight alleged cohorts — his cousin Riolito Boniel, driver Randel Lupas, Wilfredo Hoylar, Restituto Magoncia, Lobo Boniel, Allan delos Reyes Jr., Wilson Hoylar, and Brian Sayson — are facing a separate case for parricide at the Lapu-Lapu City Prosecutor’s Office.
Of the respondents, only Niño, Riolito, Lupas, Hoylar and Magoncia were arrested.
Carillo said they decided to forego preliminary investigation in the criminal charges filed against Niño in Bohol to fast-track the resolution of the case.
“All the people know about the case are based on media reports. But I want to stress that it’s a different ball game when it is heard in court,” he said.
Carillo brushed aside insinuations by the police that Judge Daray is a relative of Niño.
“That is not true. And Judge Daray won’t likely handle that case already because a new judge was appointed to preside over the Talibon court,” he said.
Carillo said they will move for the consolidation of the two cases for parricide, and kidnapping and serious illegal detention.
“It’s either it will be heard in Cebu or Bohol. It’s up to the court to decide, but wherever the venue will be, we are confident with our defense,” he said.