Bohol board member jailed for killing wife resigns

TAGBILARAN CITY – A year after he landed in jail to face allegations of killing his wife, Provincial Board Member Niño Rey Boniel has decided to give up his elective position.

The Provincial Board accepted his resignation letter on Thursday, marking an end to what had been a promising political career.

Boniel has been detained since last year to face charges over the disappearance of his wife, Bien Unido Mayor Gisela Bendong-Boniel who had been presumed dead.

“This is to formally inform you that the undersigned after thorough consultation with family and supporters, is officially and irrevocably resigning from his elective position effective immediately,” Boniel wrote in a one-page letter.

“It has been a privilege working with the rest of the members of the provincial board and that is why I would like to also take this opportunity to really thank everyone who has helped me in my stint as lawmaker for the Province of Bohol. My tenure maybe short but I have so many to be grateful for especially the assistance of my SP (Sangguniang Panlalawigan) family in my capacity as public official,” he added.

The resignation letter was addressed to the Provincial Board through Bohol Vice Gov. Dionisio Balite and was received on June 7 at 10:35 a.m.

The board members accepted his resignation during the mid-year assessment on Thursday morning held at Bohol Plaza in Dauis town and declared his position vacant.

It was not known yet who would replace Niño but under the Local Government Code, it would the President who shall appoint a replacement.

Boniel, the prime suspect in the disappearance of his wife, was charged with parricide for the death of his wife.

The Department of Justice, however, ordered the dismissal of the criminal charges filed against Niño after it granted his petition for review.

In his petition, Boniel said that Lapu-Lapu City investigating prosecutors erroneously concluded that probable cause exists and that he should be held for trial for parricide.

He also said that the Lapu-Lapu City Prosecutor’s Office had no jurisdiction over the crime charged and that a crime for parricide should be filed separately from the crime of serious illegal detention.

The illegal detention was filed by his wife’s best friend, Angela Leyson who claimed that she and her son were held against their will inside a resort in Bien Unido town by Boniel to prevent them from reporting to the police that the board member forcibly took his wife from them.

According to witnesses, Gisela was allegedly shot in the head by Niño before her body was dumped into the waters off Caubian Island in Lapu-Lapu City at dawn of June 7, 2017.