Police involved in arrest of two suspects face criminal charge

ILLEGAL ARREST FOR TWO SUSPECT IN MAYOR BONIELS SLAY CASE/AUG. 18, 2017: Lawyer Inocencio de la Cerna, Jr. (2nd from left) present to the media Lobo Boniel, Brian Sayson and Wilson Hualar (L-R) witnesses of arrested Bohol provincial board member Niño Boniel claimed they they were illegaly arrested but released last Thursday.(CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)

GISELA SLAY

The Bohol Provincial Prosecutors Office has indicted several police officers, including the chief of the Regional Intelligence Division (RID-7), for illegally arresting two persons believed to have conspired in the kidnap-slay of Bien Unido Mayor Gisela Bendong–Boniel but whose names did not appear in the Warrant of Arrest.

Lobo Boniel and Brian Sayson filed criminal complaints before the Bohol provincial prosecutor against RID Chief Senior Supt. Jonathan Cabal and seven other policemen stationed in Bien Unido last August.

The two men were arrested by the police after being tagged to have participated in the killing of Gisela by her husband, Bohol Provincial Board Member Niño Rey Boniel and throwing her body into the seas between Bien Unido and Mactan.

But 20 hours later, they were released, when the arrest warrant did not contain their names.

Lobo Boniel and Sayson, through their lawyer Inocencio Dela Cerna filed criminal complaints for arbitrary detention against Cabal, SPO1 Alexander Garcia, PO3 Angelo Avenido, PO3 Virgilio Otara, PO3 Lloyd Garcia, PO1 Frederick Enriquez, PO1 Emmanuel Pagalan, and PO3 Ally Bornillo.

“It’s a welcome development and this just goes to show that what they did was against the law,” Dela Cerna told Cebu Daily News in a phone interview yesterday.

Face the case
Cabal said he and the seven other Bohol police officers will face the case and are ready for whatever the decision of the court would be on the case.
He expressed confidence that they did nothing wrong in arresting the suspects.

“Haharapin namin ‘yang case na yan. Dahil in good faith naman namin ginawa yung trabaho namin. Hindi naman kami tatakas,” Cabal told Cebu Daily News.

(We will face the case. Because we did our job in good faith. We will not escape from that.)

The RID chief said the warrant of arrest for the suspects in the slay of Gisela was released on August 15.

He admitted that the warrant of arrest did not include the names of the suspects who were still at large at that time, namely Lobo Boniel and Brian Sayson.

“Yung mga na arrested lang ang nasa warrant but merong John Does. Eh tinanong namin yung judge sino yung John Does yung kasama sa complaint,” Cabal said.

“Kami yung nag complain so alam namin sino yung iba pa. Eh nasa complaint namin eh silang Brian (Sayson) and Lobo,” Cabal added.

(Only the ones we arrested were in the warrant but there were John Does. So we asked the judge who were the Jonh Does and told us that they are the ones in the complaints. We are the ones who filed the complaint so we really knew who they were.)

In an earlier interview, Dela Cerna’s associate, lawyer Ophie Bragat, said the arrest was made without Lobo and Sayson’s names in the warrant and were only referred to as John Does.

“If you will take the elements of arbitrary detention there should be an unlawful arrest. Hindi yun unlawful kasi meron kaming warrant of arrest (It was not an unlawful arrest because we had a warrant),” Cabal said.

He said they filed a motion for reconsideration last week and they will have their first hearing on Dec. 1.

Administrative cases
Lobo and Sayson also filed administrative cases against the arresting officers before the Office of the Ombudsman in the Visayas last September.
But Dela Cerna said they are yet to receive feedback from the Ombudsman.

“This is just the criminal aspect. But nevertheless, they will have to face the case in court,” he added.

Two administrative complaints (violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, and the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees) against Cabal and the seven policemen are still pending in the anti-graft office.

Another suspect, identified as Wilson Hoylar, was also implicated together with Lobo and Sayson but he was not arrested.
Niño, the primary suspect and eight others stand accused of killing Gisela.

He is currently detained at the Talibon District Jail in Talibon, Bohol while awaiting trial for the kidnapping and serious illegal detention charges filed by Gisela’s best friend Angela Leyson, who alleged that she and her son were kept inside a resort in Bien Unido by Niño, against their will.

The Supreme Court, upon the request of Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, however, ordered the transfer of the cases from the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 52 in Talibon, Bohol to a court in Cebu City.

The parricide case is being heard in RTC Branch 57 in Cebu City. The SC did not act on Aguirre’s request to consolidate the cases against Boniel.

The High Court ordered the detention of Niño and the other accused to be transferred from the jail in Bohol to the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) in Cebu City.

Meanwhile, CPDRC deputy warden Audesti Miguel assured that there will be no special treatment for Boniel once he is transferred at the provincial jail.

“We will just follow any orders from the court and he will be treated like any other inmate in the facility… he will be placed in a regular cell,” said Miguel.